.„.  91204 


f^  1  /-i-*^  n  'A  I  i-i.   \^  • 


THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF 
ST.   HELENA 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

THE  CRIME  OF  1812 

AND 

ITS  RETRIBUTION 

Translated  from  the  Personal    Narrative 

of  the  Russian  Campaign  of 

Lieut. -Colonel  Labaume 

By 
T.  DUNDAS  PILLANS 

{Second  Printing) 
Demy  8vo.      Cloth,   $1.75  net. 

New  York:    McBRlDE,  NAST  & 
COMPANY, 


SIR    HUDSON    LOWE. 


From  a  Pencil  D7-aui!iig.\ 


THE  REAL  MARTYR 
OF  ST.  HELENA 


By 

T.  DUNDAS  PILLANS 


"  The  use  of  character  is  to  be  a  shield  against 
calumny.  Obloquy  is  a  necessary  ingredient  in 
the  composition  of  all  true  glory ;  calumny  and 
abuse  are  essential  parts  of  triumph." 

— Edmund  Burke. 


NEW    YORK 
McBRIDE,  NAST  &  COMPANY 

1913 


To  the  living  representatives  of 

the  family  of  an  honourable  but  cruelly  traduced 

English    soldier 

this  book  is  respectfully  dedicated  bj 

The  Author. 


PREFACE 

TN  his  thrilling  narrative  of  the  Moscow  campaign  of 
1812,  Eugene  Labaume  says  of  Napoleon  that  he  will 
be  for  historians  the  riddle  of  the  human  heart. 

But  there  is  a  greater  enigma  connected  with  his 
career,  and  that  is  the  growth  and  persistency  of  the 
"  Napoleonic  Legend,"  which  is  based  upon  an  imaginary 
Napoleon  that  has  no  foundation  in  fact ;  a  Napoleon 
drawn  by  himself,  without  the  least  resemblance  to  the 
real  man. 

This  fancy  portrait,  hmned  at  St.  Helena,  depicts 
him  as  brimful  of  benevolence  ;  the  representative  of 
liberaUsm ;  the  emancipator  of  enslaved  peoples ; 
the  sworn  foe  of  despots ;  the  regenerator  of  Europe  ; 
who  was  perpetually  ingeminating  peace,  but  whose 
pacific  aspirations  were  continually  thwarted  by  the 
Satanic  machinations  of  the  European  Powers,  prompted 
by  the  arch  enemy  of  "  enUghtenment " — England. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  every  action  of  his  Ufe  con- 
tradicts these  impudent  assertions,  the  belief  in  them 

7 


8  PREFACE 

still  flourishes  with  a  vigour  as  great  as  when  they  were 
first  promulgated.  It  has  been  said  that  faith  can  re- 
move mountains,  but  the  tenacity  of  the  Napoleonic 
superstition  shows  that  nothing  can  move  faith. 

The  claim  of  Napoleon  to  be  called  "  great "  can 
only  be  admitted  if  we  accept  Fielding's  dictum  that 
greatness  consists  in  bringing  all  manner  of  mischief 
on  mankind.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  greatness  means 
nobility  of  character ;  the  desire  unselfishly  to  pro- 
mote human  happiness  ;  permanence  of  achievement ; 
judgment  in  conceiving  vast  designs  ;  moderation  and 
justice  in  success,  and  dignity  and  resignation  in  mis- 
fortune, then  never  had  any  human  being  less  title  to 
the  distinction  than  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

Nothing  shows  more  conclusively  the  hollowness  of 
Napoleon's  claim  to  greatness  than  the  facts  narrated 
in  the  following  pages.  Those  who  play  for  high  stakes 
should  know  how  to  lose  with  a  good  grace.  For  years 
Napoleon  had  been  deposing  kings  with  contempt 
for  their  rights  and  feehngs  ;  but  when,  in  the  turn  of 
the  great  roulette  of  Fortune,  he  was  served  in  the  same 
manner,  he  displayed  all  the  petty  spitefulness  of  a 
militant  suffragette.  It  has  recently  been  suggested 
that  our  wild  women  should  be  deported  to  St.  Helena. 
The  genius  loci  certainly  makes  it  a  fitting  place  of 


PKEFACE  9 

exile,  and  they  would  only  have  to  study  the  per- 
formances of  Las  Cases  and  his  "  god  "  at  Long  wood, 
to  become  adepts  in  the  congenial  sport  of  tormenting 
their  custodians. 

It  is  curious  to  reflect  that  Napoleon  not  only  brought 
untold  misery  upon  mankind  during  his  lifetime,  but 
that  even  the  grave  did  not  end  his  power  for  mischief. 
It  was  the  bringing  back  of  his  remains  from  St.  Helena 
that  rekindled  the  fire  of  Bonapartism  in  France ;  and 
led  to  the  downfall  of  the  July  monarchy,  thus  opening 
the  way  to  the  Second  Empire,  which  fittingly  ended 
at  Sedan,  as  the  first  had  ended  at  Waterloo. 

The  world  is  still  reaping  the  harvest  of  evil  which 
Napoleon  sowed.  His  cruel  and  ruthless  treatment  of 
Prussia  after  the  battle  of  Jena,  and  his  creation  of 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  under  French  control, 
originated  that  bitter  hatred  between  the  French  and 
German  nations,  which  still  exists  in  all  its  rank  malig- 
nity, and  is  the  real  cause  of  the  enormous  armaments 
which  are  draining  the  resources  of  the  European  peo- 
ples at  the  present  day.  Moreover,  the  worship  of  mere 
brute  force — ^the  glorification  of  might  against  right — 
which  is  at  the  bottom  of  Napoleonolatry,  has  created 
the  bastard  imperiaUsm  which  is  one  of  the  curses  of 
our  time.    The  menace  of  Socialism  is  also  ultimately 


10  PREFACE 

due  to  this  form  of  devil-worship.  Groaning  under 
the  weight  of  a  gigantic  war  expenditure  in  a  time  of 
universal  peace,  the  masses  are  driven  to  look  for  a 
remedy  for  their  intolerable  evils  in  schemes  which 
strike  at  the  very  root  of  civilized  society.  Every 
country  in  Europe,  impoverished  through  this  fearful 
blood-tax,  is  seething  with  disaffection  to  the  existing 
order,  and  in  the  German  Reichstag  SociaUsm  is  now 
represented  by  the  most  numerous  party  in  that  body, 
the  mandatories  of  over  four  milhon  Socialist  voters. 

This  curse  of  militarism  threatens  even  to  invade 
our  own  shores,  and  an  influential  party  is  busily  at 
work  seeldng  to  transform  this  ancient  maritime  mon- 
archy, with  all  its  proud  traditions  of  individual  hberty, 
into  a  mihtary  empire.  Should  this  attempt  succeed, 
and  our  country  be  at  the  same  time  saddled  with  the 
curse  of  "  protection "  to  industry,  SociaHsm,  which 
flourishes  on  the  misery  of  the  masses,  will  advance 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  become  as  great  a  menace 
to  civilized  society  here  as  it  now  is  in  Continental 
countries. 

France  has  suffered  more  from  the  sinister  influence 
of  Napoleonism  than  any  other  nation,  and  yet  she  has 
enclosed  the  body  of  her  evil  genius  in  a  gorgeous  and 
fittingly    theatrical    tomb.     The    fact    recalls    Burke's 


PREFACE  11 

observation  on  the  temples  erected  by  the  natives  of 
India  to  Warren  Hastings — ^he  saw  no  reason  for  aston- 
ishment. He  knew  the  Hindoos  erected  shrines  not 
only  to  the  benignant  deities  of  hght  and  plenty,  but 
also  to  the  fiends  who  preside  over  smallpox  and  murder. 
It  would  be  over-sanguine  to  suppose  that  those 
who  admire  the  murderer  of  the  Due  d'Enghien  and 
the  desolator  of  Europe  will  be  influenced  by  the  petti- 
ness and  paltry  malignity  displayed  by  their  hero  at 
Longwood.  But  at  all  events  it  is  well  that  the  fiction 
of  England's  perfidy  and  Lowe's  brutaUty  should  once 
again  be  shattered,  and  that  some  reparation  should 
be  made  for  the  grievous  injustice  that  an  honourable 
Enghshman  has  suffered  from  the  hbels  of  unscrupulous 
partisans. 

T.  D.  P. 

12,  Tenby  Mansions, 
Nottingham  Street, 
London,  W, 
May,  1913. 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Frontispiece. 

View  of  Jamestown,  Landing  Place        .  Facing  f.  37 

Longwood          .......  57 

View  of  Jamestown  from  Longwood  Road      .          .  153 

Ladder  Hill 213 

Jamestown  from  the  Sea      .....  307 


12 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 


I  The  Surrender    .... 

II  The  Place  of  Exile    . 

III  The  Voyage  to  St.  Helena 

IV  The  Briars 

V     LONGWOOD 

VI    Napoleon's    Relations    with   Admiral 

COCKBURN  .... 

VII    The  New  Governor     . 

VIII    "  Look  here  upon  this  Picture  and  on 
This" 

IX    "  The  Most  Docile  and  Tractable  Man 
IN  the  World  " 

X    "  Docility  " — a  la  Corse     . 

XI  Barry  O'Meara   .... 

XII  CoRSicAN  Politeness    . 

XIII      GUERRA   AL   CuCHILLO     . 

13 


15 
31 

42 
50 
57 

66 

77 

87 

96 
103 
112 
119 
127 


U  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

137 


XIV  Agro-Dolce  .... 

XV  Megalomania        .... 

XVI  "  L'Intrigant  Las  Cases  "   . 

XVII  Napoleon's  Ignorance  of  England 

XVIII  The  New  "  Declaration  "    . 

XIX  Las  Cases 

XX  Exit  Las  Cases    .... 


145 
158 

169 
175 

189 
197 


XXI  Concerning  a  Bust,  Bonbons  and  other 

Matters 215 

XXII  A  Fish  out  of  Water          .         .         .225 

XXIII  Medico  and  "  Mouton  "...     237 

XXIV  Medical  and  Clerical          .         .         .     264 
XXV    Hide  and  Seek 272 

XXVI  The  Sublime  and  the  Ridiculous        .     287 

XXVII  Death 298 

XXVIII  The  Breaking-up  .         ,         .         .307 


THE   REAL    MARTYR    OF 
ST.   HELENA 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  SUERENDER 

f\^  the  night  of  the  18th  of  June,  1815,  Napoleon 
^^  fled  from  the  field  of  Waterloo,  as  he  had  before 
fled  from  Egypt,  from  Russia,  from  Leipzig.  He  left 
the  mangled  remains  of  the  flower  of  the  finest  army- 
he  ever  commanded  on  the  slopes  of  Mont  St.  Jean  ; 
and  forcing  his  way  through  the  panic-stricken  horde 
which  alone  remained  of  it,  hastened  back  to  Paris.^ 
The  game  was  up.  The  whole  colossal  edifice  which 
had  been  erected  by  violence  and  cemented  with  blood 
during  a  period  of  nearly  twenty  years  had  fallen  with 
a  crash.  It  was  a  final  and  irreparable  catastrophe. 
In  1814  he  had  been  forced  to  abdicate,  but  the  outlook 
was  not  then  hopeless.  In  1815  his  downfall  was 
complete ;   there  was  no  possibility  of  stemming,  even 

»  Memorial  de  Stc.   Helene.     Las  Cases.     Ed.    1823.     Vol.   i, 
part  1,  pp.  15-25. 

15 


16   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

for  a  moment,  the  inrush  of  the  invading  flood ;  a  de- 
fensive campaign  in  France  Uke  that  of  the  previous 
year  was  impossible ;  for  there  was  no  army  with  which 
to  fight  it.  The  only  thing  left  for  the  defeated  despot 
was  to  provide  for  his  own  safety. 

He  abdicated  once  more,  and  on  the  25th  of  June 
quitted  Paris  for  Malmaison.  After  having  vainly 
offered  his  services  to  the  Provisional  Government  as 
a  "  simple  citizen  at  the  head  of  the  troops,"  he  found 
his  retreat  becoming  unsafe,  and  left  for  Rochefort, 
with  the  idea  of  sailing  thence  for  the  United  States  of 
America. 

^He  arrived  at  Rochefort  on  the  3rd  of  July,  where 
he  was  met  by  his  brother  Joseph,  Las  Cases,  Montholon, 
Gourgaud  and  Bertrand,  and  various  plans  were  dis- 
cussed for  getting  him  away  from  France.  It  was 
proposed  to  smuggle  him  out  in  a  Danish  merchant 
vessel ;  to  force  a  passage  with  two  French  frigates 
lying  in  the  roads,  and  even  to  retire  into  the  interior 
and  inaugurate  a  guerilla  warfare  against  the  alhed 
armies.  All  these  ideas  were  abandoned.  An  EngUsh 
squadron  was  cruising  vigilantly  off  the  coast,  making 
any  attempt  to  escape  by  sea  hopeless,  and  even  Napo- 
leon had  had  enough  of  fighting.  The  only  alter- 
native was  surrender,  and  it  became  then  a  question  as 
to  which  of  the  Powers  was  likely  to  treat  him  most 
indulgently. 

*  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  1,  pp.  27-36, 


THE  SURRENDER  17 

Of  the  four,  three  of  them  had  had  quite  recent  ex- 
perience of  the  realities  of  a  French  invasion  ;  and 
had  seen  their  capitals  occupied  by  French  armies. 
Moscow  had  been  destroyed,  and  Prussia  had  been  dis- 
membered. Bliicher  had  uttered  dire  threats  of  how  he 
would  treat  Napoleon  if  ever  he  fell  into  his  hands. 
Alexander,  with  the  recollection  of  1812  fresh  upon 
him,  was  hkely  to  provide  him  with  an  allotment  in 
Siberia,  and  Francis,  who  had  not  only  seen  his  capital 
twice  occupied,  but  had  been  obliged  to  sacrifice  his 
daughter  to  the  Corsican  parvenu,  would  probably 
have  given  him  lodgings  in  Spielberg.  England  alone 
had  had  no  first-hand  experience  of  the  capacity  of  a 
French  army  for  lust  and  rapine.  Her  command  of 
the  sea  had  saved  her  from  such  horrors.  It  was  there- 
fore likely  that  she  would  give  hun  better  terms  than 
any  of  the  other  Powers  ;  and  moreover,  her  ships  were 
in  the  offing,  and  afforded  a  ready  asylum  for  the  fallen 
despot.  There  was,  in  any  case,  no  time  to  be  lost,  for 
if  he  remained  much  longer  in  France  his  personal 
safety  would  be  in  danger,  either  from  his  fickle  quondam 
subjects,  or  from  the  restored  Bourbons,  and  their 
allies. 

1  In  these  circumstances  the  Count  de  Las  Cases  was 
sent  to  interview  Captain  Maitland  of  the  Bellerophon. 
The  envoy  asked  Maitland  if  he  had  received  a  safe- 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol  i.  part  1,  pp.  28-3G. 

B 


18   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

conduct  from  the  British  Government  for  Napoleon's 
departure  for  the  United  States.  The  reply  was  in 
the  negative,  Captain  Maitland  adding  that  if  the 
French  frigates  attempted  to  sail  they  would  be  attacked 
by  the  English  squadron.  Las  Cases  was  told  that 
Napoleon  could,  if  he  liked,  be  taken  to  England,  and 
that  in  such  event,  he  would  have  no  cause  to  fear  ill- 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Government.  With  this 
Las  Cases  returned  to  his  master,  and  fresh  conferences 
were  held  on  the  situation. 

On  the  14th  of  July  Las  Cases  had  a  second  inter- 
view with  Maitland,  who  told  him  that  if  Napoleon 
wished  to  embark  at  once  for  England  he  was  author- 
ized to  conduct  him  thither.  He  added  as  his  private 
opinion — and  this  was  confirmed  by  several  other  cap- 
tains present  at  the  interview — that  he  had  no  doubt 
that  Napoleon  would  receive  in  England  all  the  con- 
sideration which  he  could  reasonably  expect ;  that 
the  Prince  Regent  and  his  ministers  were  not  endowed 
with  the  arbitrary  authority  prevaiUng  on  the  Con- 
tinent ;  and  that  the  British  people  were  imbued  with 
a  generous  sentiment  and  a  liberahty  of  opinion  superior 
to  the  sovereign  himself.  Las  Cases  replied  that  he 
would  report  to  the  Emperor  the  substance  of  this 
conversation,  and  that  he  knew  Napoleon  well  enough 
to  think  that  he  would  not  be  averse  from  reposing  confi- 
dence in  England,  in  order  to  obtain  there  facilities 
for  continuing  his  journey  to  the  United  States.    He 


THE  SURRENDER  19 

then  enlarged  upon  the  possibility  of  Napoleon 
continuing  the  struggle,  from  which  he  only  shrank 
owing  to  his  horror  of  shedding  blood  ;  and  upon  his 
"generosity"  in  abdicating  and  thus  facilitating  the 
restoration  of  peace,  and  his  firm  determination  to  exile 
himself  so  as  to  make  that  peace  a  lasting  one.  Las 
Cases  having  repeated  that  the  Emperor,  in  view  of 
the  circumstances,  would  probably  accept  Maitland's 
offer  to  conduct  him  to  England  "  with  a  view  to 
obtaining  there  a  safe-conduct  to  America,"  Maitland 
was  careful  to  reply  that  it  must  be  clearly  understood 
that  he  could  not  guarantee  the  granting  of  such  safe- 
conduct,  and  the  interview  ended. 

It  is  necessary  that  this  conference,  the  account  of 
which  we  have  taken  from  Las  Cases'  own  statement, 
should  be  carefully  kept  in  mind  in  view  of  the  sub- 
sequent charges  of  "  perfidy  "  brought  by  Napoleon 
against  the  British  Government.  There  is  not  the 
slightest  foundation  for  such  a  charge.  It  was  part 
of  the  ingenious  web  of  sophistry  and  mendacity  spun 
by  Bonaparte  during  his  exile  at  St.  Helena  in  order 
to  justify  his  pose  as  a  martyr  to  the  craft  and  treachery 
of  England.  The  reasons  advanced  by  Las  Cases  for 
his  master's  surrender  are  equally  baseless.  Napoleon 
gave  himself  up  because  he  had  no  alternative,  and 
the  reluctance  to  shed  blood  attributed  to  a  man  who 
had  been  deluging  Europe  with  carnage  for  some  twenty 
years  is  simply  ludicrous. 


20   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

In  regard  to  these  interviews,  however,  we  have  a 
much  more  reliable  witness  than  the  Frenchman,  who,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  was  one  of  the  trickiest  and  most 
miscrupulous  of  mortals.  Captain  (afterwards  Rear- 
Admiral)  Maitland  has  given  us  his  version  in  his  book, 
The  Surrender  of  Napoleon,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary 
to  say  that  his  statements  can  be  accepted  with  full 
reliance  on  their  truth. 

Dealing  with  Napoleon's  "  Protest,"  dated  "  On 
board  the  Bellerophon,"  4th  of  August,  1815,  in  which 
the  Emperor  concocts  his  fable  about  the  "  perfidy  " 
of  England,  Maitland  says :  "On  the  above  I  shall 
only  observe  that  no  snare  had  been  laid,  either  on  the 
part  of  His  Majesty's  Government  or  mine.  I  was 
placed  before  Rochefort  for  the  open  purpose  of  pre- 
venting Bonaparte  from  making  his  escape  from  that 
port ;  and  the  exertions  of  myself  and  those  under  my 
command  had  been  so  completely  successful  that  the 
intention  of  forcing  past  the  ships  under  my  orders, 
as  well  as  every  other  plan  proposed,  of  which  there 
appear  to  have  been  several,  were  abandoned  as  utterly 
hopeless.  And  so  far  was  I  from  seeking  communication 
with  Napoleon,  that  all  the  flags  of  truce  proceeding 
from  him  were  strongly  reprobated  by  me  as  improper, 
except  in  extraordinary  cases,  and  were  only  resorted 
to  when,  as  it  appears  from  Lord  Keith's  letter  of  the 
23rd  of  July,  orders  had  been  given  for  his  arrest,  and 
when  (as  has  since  been  proved)  one  or  more  intimations 


THE  SURRENDER  21 

had  been  given  by  the  officer  commanding  in  Isle  d'Aix, 
that  if  he  did  not  depart  he  would  be  under  the  necessity 
of  detaining  him.  Besides,  it  is  now  perfectly  ascer- 
tained that  the  determination  of  repairing  to  England 
was  adopted  at  a  consultation  held  by  Bonaparte  on 
the  night  of  the  13th  of  July,  when  his  letter  to  the 
Prince  Regent  was  written,  and  Messrs.  Las  Cases  and 
Lallmande  were  sent  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  to 
discover  if  I  would  receive  him  on  board  the  Bellerofhon 
and  convey  him  to  that  country. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  August,  when  walking 
the  deck  with  Monsieur  Las  Cases,  he  for  the  first  time 
mentioned  that  he  understood  me  to  have  assured  him 
that  the  Emperor  would  be  well  received  in  England, 
and  allowed  to  reside  there.  I  replied, '  I  cannot  conceive 
how  you  could  so  far  misunderstand  me,  as  I  constantly, 
in  my  communications  with  you,  stated  that  I  could 
make  no  promises  whatever  :  that  I  thought  my  orders 
would  bear  me  out  in  receiving  him  on  board,  and  con- 
veying him  to  England  ;  but  even  in  doing  that,  I 
acted  very  much  upon  my  own  responsibility.  You 
questioned  me  frequently  as  to  my  private  opinion, 
and  as  I  was  quite  ignorant  upon  the  subject,  I  could 
only  say  I  had  no  reason  to  believe  he  would  be  ill  re- 
ceived.' It  did  not,  however,  require  my  assistance 
to  raise  the  hopes  of  those  about  Bonaparte  respect- 
ing the  manner  in  which  he  was  to  be  received  in  Eng- 
land ;    as  one  of  his  followers,  on  the  passage  home, 


22   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

asked  me  if  I  thought  the  Prince  Regent  would  confer 
the  order  of  the  Garter  upon  him." 

Maitland  goes  on  to  say  that  Las  Cases,  in  his  inter- 
views, concealed  the  fact  that  he  spoke  English,  which 
could,  says  the  sailor,  only  have  been  with  the  object 
of  throwing  him  off  his  guard,  so  that  advantage  might 
be  taken  of  any  expressions  that  fell  from  him  or  the 
other  English  officers  present,  in  their  imperfect  French. 
Even  after  he  was  on  board  the  Bellerophon  with  Napo- 
leon, Las  Cases  continued  the  same  deceit,  affecting  not 
to  be  able  to  speak  English,  although  able  to  read  it. 
But  Maitland  soon  after  discovered  the  tricky  French- 
man's duplicity,  for  in  a  letter  received  from  an  officer 
of  the  Northumberland  the  writer  said  :  "I  do  not 
know  whether  Las  Cases  ever  let  you  know  he  could 
speak  English  ;  but  this  I  can  assure  you,  that  he 
speaks  it  very  near  as  well  as  Madame  Bertrand,  and 
can  hold  a  conversation,  or  maintain  an  argument  in 
it,  with  as  much  fluency  as  she  can." 

Las  Cases  shortly  afterwards  descended  to  a  lower 
depth  of  meanness,  which  is  thus  recorded  by  Mait- 
land :  "  On  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  August,  1815, 
Count  Las  Cases  made  an  application  to  me  for  per- 
mission to  wait  on  Lord  Keith,  having  a  communication 
to  make  to  him.  I,  in  consequence,  went  to  his  lord- 
ship, and  obtained  leave  to  send  hun.  When  the  Ad- 
miral came  on  board  the  Bellerophon  in  the  forenoon 
to  attend  Bonaparte  in  his  removal  to  the  Northumher- 


THE  SURRENDER  23 

land,  he  informed  me  that  Monsieur  Las  Cases  had  re- 
presented to  him  I  had  promised  Bonaparte  should  be 
well  received  in  England  and  allowed  to  remain  there." 
Maitland  was  naturally  disgusted  at  this  mean  attempt 
to  get  him  into  hot  water  with  the  authorities,  and 
when  saying  good-bye  to  De  Montholon  took  occasion 
to  express  his  indignation.  "  I  feel  much  hurt,"  he 
said,  "  that  Count  Las  Cases  should  have  stated  to  Lord 
Keith  that  I  had  promised  Bonaparte  should  be  well 
received  in  England,  or  indeed  made  promises  of  any 
sort.  I  have  endeavoured  to  conduct  myself  with 
integrity  and  honour  throughout  the  whole  of  this 
transaction,  and  therefore  cannot  allow  such  an  asser- 
tion to  go  uncontradicted."  "  Oh,"  replied  De  Montho- 
lon, "  Las  Cases  negotiated  this  business  ;  it  has  turned 
out  very  differently  from  what  he  and  all  of  us  expected. 
He  attributes  the  Emperor's  situation  to  himself,  and 
is  therefore  desirous  of  giving  it  the  best  countenance 
he  can." 

Thus  we  see  that  this  man  was  capable  of  seeking  to 
extricate  himself  from  an  unpleasant  position  by  gross 
misrepresentations  of  his  conversations  with  Maitland, 
utterly  regardless  of  the  injury  he  might  inflict  upon 
a  gallant  and  unsuspecting  officer,  from  whom  he  had 
received  the  greatest  kindness  and  consideration.  We 
shall  find,  as  we  proceed  with  our  story,  that  this  was 
merely  the  beginning  of  a  course  of  conduct  which  he 
pursued  to  the  very  last  day  of  his  residence  at  St. 


24   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Helena,  and  which  stamps  him  as  a  person  .utterly  devoid 
of  truth  and  honour  so  far  as  his  connection  with 
Napoleon  is  concerned. 

To  resume  the  thread  of  our  narrative.  On  the  en- 
voy's return  a  council  was  held  and  various  plans 
were  discussed.  Escape  in  the  Danish  ship  was  dis- 
carded as  impracticable,  and  it  was  decided  that  the 
blockade  by  the  British  squadron  made  escape  in  the 
frigates  equally  impossible.  The  only  alternatives 
appeared  to  be  to  embark  on  a  civil  war  or  accept  the 
oi?er  of  Captain  Maitland.  It  was  resolved  to  adopt 
the  last-named  course,  on  the  ground  that  on  board 
the  Bellerophon  Napoleon  would  be  on  British  territory, 
and  the  English  Government  would  be  bound  from  that 
moment  by  the  laws  of  hospitality,  held  sacred  even  by 
barbarous  peoples.  He  would,  moreover,  find  himself 
under  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  England,  and  the 
British  nation  would  have  too  much  regard  for  their 
reputation  not  to  seize  with  avidity  this  opportunity 
for  displaying  their  magnanimity.  To  clinch  the 
matter  from  this  artless  (or  artful)  standpoint, 
Napoleon  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Prince 
Regent : 

1  "  Your  Royal  Highness, — 

"  Victim  of  the  factions  which  distract  my  country 
and  of  the  hatred  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe,  I  have 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  1,  p.  34. 


THE  SURRENDER  25 

reached  the  end  of  my  public  career,  I  come,  like 
Themistocles,  to  seat  myself  at  the  hearth  of  the  British 
people  ;  I  place  myself  under  the  protection  of  its  laws, 
which  I  claim  from  your  Royal  Highness  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  most  powerful,  the  most  persistent, 
and  the  most  generous  of  my  enemies." 

Like  all  Napoleon's  performances,  this  epistle  shows  a 
colossal  capacity  for  calculated  humbug.  It  was  evi- 
dently written  with  the  object  of  deluding  simpletons 
into  a  behef  in  the  reality  of  his  pose  of  injured  innocence. 
Read  in  the  light  of  his  subsequent  conversations  at 
St.  Helena,  it  imputes  to  the  British  Government  a  credu- 
lous simplicity,  almost  beyond  belief.  The  supreme 
object  of  his  ambition  had  been  to  crush  England,  and 
to  attain  that  object  he  had  not  only  made  war  upon 
her  by  land  and  sea,  but  had  sought  to  ruin  her  commerce 
by  means  of  his  "  Continental  System."  It  is  true 
that  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  only  succeeded  in 
ruining  the  commerce  of  the  nations  who  had  bowed 
beneath  his  yoke,  and  that  those  decrees  had  been  the 
main  cause  of  the  general^  uprising  against  his  intoler- 
able tyranny.  But  they  were  the  highest  refinement 
of  his  diabolical  hatred  of  England  ;  and  had  taught 
the  British  people  that  so  long  as  he  had  any  power  for 
mischief  left,  the  island  kingdom  could  hope  for  no 
security  in  mind,  body  or  estate.  As  to  seating  himself 
at  the  hearth  of  the  English  nation,  it  was  not  long 


26   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

since  he  had  threatened  this  country  with  an  invasion 
which  would  have  blackened  every  hearth  in  the  land, 
and  let  loose  his  devastating  hordes  to  repeat  the  horrors 
of  the  Spanish  and  Moscow  campaigns  in  the  "  garden 
of  England." 

Had  the  British  Government  been  fools  enough  to 
be  deluded  by  his  impudent  appeal,  we  know  from  his 
own  lips  what  would  have  been  the  consequences.  Let 
Las  Cases  himself  speak  on  this  point.  "  He  had  a 
secret  satisfaction  in  accepting  the  hospitality  of  the 
Bellerophon.  To  be  in  England  was  to  be  within 
easy  reach  of  France.  He  knew,  of  course,  that  there 
he  would  not  be  entirely  a  free  agent  ;  but  he  hoped 
to  make  himself  heard,  and  besides  what  chances  there 
were  in  the  new  direction  which  he  might  give  to 
events  !  "  "  The  English  Ministry,"  he  proceeded,  "  are 
either  enemies  of  their  country  or  sold  to  the  foreigner, 
and  they  have  found  my  sole  personality  too  dangerous. 
They  have  come  to  the  conclusion  in  London  that  it 
would  have  been  more  powerful  than  the  entire  Oppo- 
sition ;  that  they  would  either  have  been  compelled 
to  alter  their  whole  system  or  resign  their  places  ;  and 
to  preserve  their  places  they  have,  with  the  most  abject 
cowardice,  sacrificed  the  true  interests  of  their  coun- 
try— the  triumph  and  glory  of  her  laws,  the  peace  of 
the  world,  the  welfare  of  Europe,  the  prosperity  and 
regard  of  future  generations."  He  was,  in  fact,  to 
settle  himself  in  England,  within  twenty  miles  of  the 


THE  SURRENDER  27 

French  coast,  and  there  to  intrigue  with  his  French 
supporters,  and  turn  our  party  system  to  his  own 
account.  It  was  a  very  pretty  arrangement,  but 
happily  it  was  too  transparent  to  succeed,  and  the 
British  Government  wisely  determined  to  put  an  end 
for  ever  to  his  career  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace  of  the 
world. 

The  fact  is  the  Powers  of  Europe  had  learnt  by  this 
time  that  no  reliance  whatever  was  to  be  placed  upon 
any  statement  that  Napoleon  might  make.  To  use  a 
colloquialism,  they  had  been  "  fed  up  "  with  his  violated 
pledges  and  chronic  mendacity,  and  they  were  fully 
alive  to  the  necessity  of  securing  the  peace  of  the  world 
by  securing  his  person.  To  have  allowed  him  to  seek 
an  asylum  in  the  United  States  of  America  would  only 
have  been  one  degree  less  dangerous  than  to  permit 
him  to  settle  in  England.  He  himself  has  also  in  this 
instance  disclosed  what  he  would  have  done  had  he 
been  allowed  to  take  up  his  abode  in  America.  ^  Joseph 
was  already  estabHshed  there.  He  had  managed  to 
secure  for  himself  a  considerable  share  of  the  plunder 
amassed  by  the  Bonaparte  family  during  their  long 
course  of  brigandage.  He  had  purchased  a  property 
in  the  State  of  New  York  where.  Napoleon  heard,  he 
had  gathered  around  him  a  considerable  number  of 
Frenchmen.    The   situation    of   this   property   in   the 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  p.  336. 


28   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

northern  part  of  the  State  appeared  to  the  Emperor  to 
have  been  chosen  by  his  brother  with  the  double  object 
of  showing  friendship  for  the  United  States  and  enmity 
to  England.  It  was  evident,  he  said,  that  it  would  have 
a  natural  attraction  for  the  population  of  Canada,  which 
was  largely  French,  and  had  still  a  feeling  of  hostility 
towards  their  British  conquerors.  ^  Joseph's  establish- 
ment, he  added,  would  soon  be  the  rendezvous  of  able 
and  influential  men.  From  that  centre  would  issue 
powerful  counterblasts  in  the  press  against  the  system 
which  had  triumphed  in  Europe  ;  already  at  Elba  he 
had  conceived  this  idea.  Had  he  succeeded  in  escaping 
to  America,  he  reckoned  on  gathering  around  him  all 
his  intimates,  and  upon  having  at  his  disposal  some 
forty  millions  of  francs.  His  residence  would  thus 
become  the  nucleus  of  a  national  reunion,  and  of  a  new 
party.  Before  the  lapse  of  a  year,  events  in  France 
and  the  rest  of  Europe  would  have  grouped  around  him 
sixty  thousand  people,  the  greater  number  with  means, 
ability  and  knowledge,  and  his  resources  would  have 
reached  a  hundred  millions.  He  would  have  dehghted 
in  realizing  this  dream,  which  would  have  brought  him 
new  glory.  Continuing,  he  stated  that  he  could  easily 
have  got  away  from  France  in  disguise,  but  that  he 
shrank  from  this  course  as  beneath  his  dignity.  We 
have  seen,  however,  that  he  only  surrendered  to  Mait- 

1  Ibid.  pp.  337  and  338. 


THE  SURRENDER  29 

land  because  he  found  escape  to  America  impossible ; 
and  as  to  the  humihation  of  disguise,  the  hollowness  of 
this  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  1814,  on  his  journey 
through  France  to  Elba,  he  stooped  to  assuming  the 
great  coat  and  fur  cap  of  the  Austrian  commissioner 
to  escape  the  fury  of  his  quondam  subjects. 

Such  was  the  programme  which  Napoleon  sketched 
out  for  his  operations  in  the  United  States,  had  he  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping  thither.  A  pretty  vista  of  trouble 
for  England  in  particular,  and  the  world  in  general,  it 
discloses.  Fortunately,  by  this  time  the  Powers  had 
become  fully  alive  to  the  capacity  of  Napoleon  for  mis- 
chief ;  and  of  his  inexhaustible  ingenuity  in  wrigghng 
out  of  tight  corners,  and  turning  even  his  reverses  to 
profitable  account.  They  had  seen  him  apparently  lost 
in  Egypt,  ruined  in  Russia,  and  broken  at  Leipzig, 
and  he  had  surmounted  all  these  disasters  and  appeared 
again  as  the  scourge  of  mankind.  They  wisely  concluded 
that  even  Waterloo  might  not  be  the  end  if  he  were 
still  left  at  large  ;  and  his  subsequent  disclosures  as  to 
how  he  would  have  schemed  and  plotted  in  England  or 
the  United  States  to  throw  Europe  once  more  into  the 
seething  cauldron  of  his  insatiable  ambition  fully  con- 
firm the  wisdom  of  the  course  they  pursued. 

Napoleon,  then,  having  no  alternative  but  to  surrender 
himself  to  England,  went  on  board  the  Bellerophon. 
Las  Cases  asserts  that  had  he  known  the  fate  in  store 
for  him,  he  would  not  have  taken  this  step,  but  enough 


30   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

has  been  said  to  show  that  after  carefully  considering 
the  practicability  of  all  other  courses,  he  and  his  friends 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the  only  one 
open  to  him. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   PLACE   OP  EXILE 

rpOWARDS  evening  on  the  24th  of  July  the  Bellerophon 
anchored  in  the  roads  at  Torbay,  and  Maitland  at 
once  informed  Lord  Keith,  the  Admiral  commanding 
in  the  Channel,  of  the  arrival  of  the  distinguished  pri- 
soner. The  water  was  soon  covered  with  an  immense 
crowd  of  boats,  filled  with  people  anxious  to  catch  a 
sight  of  the  redoubtable  "  Boney,"  who  had  been  for 
so  long  the  terror  of  Europe  and  the  inveterate  foe  of 
their  country.  The  caged  lion  gratified  the  sightseers 
by  appearing  on  the  bridge,  for  at  that  period  he  had 
not  begun  to  show  the  persistent  ill-temper  which  he 
afterwards  displayed  at  St.  Helena. 

On  the  26th  orders  came  to  bring  him  on  to  Ply- 
mouth, where  he  arrived  at  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. Here  the  crowds  were  kept  at  bay.  Armed 
boats  patrolled  around  the  ship  and  none  was  allowed 
to  approach.  Sinister  rumours  began  to  circulate 
among  the  French  prisoners  on  the  arrival  of  a  special 
courier  from  London,  one  of  which  was  that  the  Emperor 
was  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  and  it  was  also 

31 


32   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

whispered  that  the  Island  of  St.  Helena  was  to  be  his 
destination. 

Napoleon  deluded  himself  with  the  idea  that  his  letter 
to  the  Prince  Regent  was  tantamount  to  a  conditional 
surrender,  and  that  it  would  be  accepted  as  such,  but 
any  dispassionate  mind  must  see  that  such  an  idea  was 
entirely  without  foundation.  He  had  been  expHcitly 
informed  by  Maitland  that  his  surrender  must  be  made 
unconditionally,  and  it  is  obvious  that  the  interpretation 
of  such  a  letter  must  be  as  much  a  matter  for  the  recipient 
as  for  the  writer ;  otherwise  correspondence  of  that 
nature  would  be  reduced  to  a  one-sided  absurdity,  and 
would  involve  the  ridiculous  assertion  that  whatever  one 
man  proposed  another  must  accept.  The  Prince  Regent 
never  invited  the  Emperor  to  write  to  him  at  all ;  the 
letter  was  what  is  vulgarly  called  a  "  try-on  "  on  the 
part  of  the  writer,  whose  cool  proposal  to  seat  himself 
at  the  hearth  of  the  British  people  the  Prince  was  in 
no  way  bound  to  admit.  It  was  mainly  on  this  letter, 
however,  that  Napoleon  founded  his  charge  of  treachery 
against  the  British  Government,  and  the  epistle  was 
manifestly  concocted  with  that  object. 

All  doubts  as  to  the  Emperor's  fate  were  soon  put  to 
rest.  Lord  Keith  and  a  representative  of  the  British 
Ministry  were  sent  to  inform  Napoleon  of  the  decision. 
He  protested  that  he  was  the  guest  of  England ;  that 
he  was  in  no  sense  a  prisoner ;  that  he  had  voluntarily 
placed  himself  under  the  protection  of  English  law  ; 


THE  PLACE   OF  EXILE  33 

that  the  sacred  laws  of  hospitality  were  being  violated, 
and  that  he  would  never  willingly  submit  to  the  outrage 
which  was  being  perpetrated  upon  him.  Violence 
alone  compelled  him  to  suffer  it. 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  the  memorandum  of 
the  British  Government  which  was  communicated  to 
Napoleon  by  Lord  Keith. 

^  As  it  is  desirable  that  General  Bonaparte  should 
be  acquainted  without  delay  with  the  intentions 
of  the  British  Government  in  his  regard,  your 
lordship  will  communicate  to  him  the  following 
information. 

It  would  be  inconsistent  with  our  duty  to  our 
country  and  to  His  Majesty's  allies,  to  allow 
General  Bonaparte  to  possess  the  means  or  oppor- 
tunity to  disturb  anew  the  peace  of  Europe.  For 
this  reason  it  becomes  absolutely  imperative  that 
his  personal  liberty  should  be  restricted  so  long  as 
that  may  be  necessary  to  secure  this  first  and  all- 
important  object. 

The  Island  of  St.  Helena  has  been  selected  for 
his  future  residence  ;  its  climate  is  healthy,  and 
its  situation  will  make  it  possible  to  treat  him  with 
more  indulgence  there  than  elsewhere,  in  view  of 
the  indispensable  precautions  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  adopt  to  secure  his  person. 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  p.  56. 

C 


34   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

General  Bonaparte  will  be  allowed  to  choose 
from  among  those  persons  who  have  accompanied 
him  to  England,  with  the  exception  of  Generals 
Savary  and  Lallemand,  three  officers,  who,  together 
with  his  doctor,  will  be  permitted  to  accompany 
him  to  St.  Helena,  and  will  not  be  allowed  to  leave 
the  island  without  the  sanction  of  the  British 
Government. 

Vice-Admiral  Sir  George  Cockburn,  who  has 
been  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  and  the  adjacent  seas,  will  conduct 
General  Bonaparte  and  his  suite  to  St.  Helena, 
and  will  receive  detailed  instructions  concerning 
the  execution  of  his  mission. 

Sir  George  Cockburn  will  probably  be  ready  to 
start  in  a  few  days,  which  makes  it  desirable  that 
General  Bonaparte  should  select  without  delay  the 
persons  who  are  to  accompany  him. 

This  document  presents  in  a  singularly  lucid  and 
convincing  way  the  situation  with  which  the  British 
Ministry  found  itself  faced.  Two  facts  were  perfectly 
evident — first,  that  it  was  absolutely  essential  to  the 
peace  of  the  world  that  Napoleon  Bonaparte  should  not 
break  loose  again.  The  terrible  experience  of  the  last 
twenty  years,  during  almost  the  whole  of  which  Europe 
had  been  in  a  chronic  state  of  anarchy  and  bloodshed 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Baltic,  and  from  Moscow 


THE  PLACE   OF  EXILE  35 

to  Lisbon,  had  convinced  the  civilized  world  of  that  one 
saUent  fact.  It  was  therefore  imperative  so  to  secure 
the  arch-disturber  that  his  power  for  mischief  should 
be  ended  once  for  all.  Three  courses  were  possible  to 
achieve  this  end.  Bliicher's  was  the  most  certain — 
he  would  have  had  him  shot,  but  the  Powers  shrank 
from  that  drastic  method.  Imprisonment  for  Hfe  in  a 
European  fortress  would  have  had  the  disadvantage  of 
turning  the  prison  into  a  centre  of  intrigue,  and  besides, 
there  was  always  the  possibility  of  Napoleon  emulating 
the  evasive  performances  of  a  Latude  and  effecting  his 
escape.  The  third  and  most  merciful  course  was  that 
which  was  adopted — to  intern  hun  in  some  territory  far 
beyond  the  confines  of  Europe,  from  which  escape  would 
be  altogether  impossible,  but  where  at  the  same  time  he 
could  be  allowed  a  comparative  freedom  without  jeo- 
pardizing the  main  object  of  his  detention. 

1  The  Island  of  St.  Helena  was  an  ideal  spot  for  such 
a  purpose.  It  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  vast 
Atlantic,  in  15°  55'  S.  Lat.  and  5° 49' 45'' W.Long.,  600 
miles  from  the  Island  of  Ascension  (the  nearest  land), 
1,200  miles  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  nearly  2,000 
miles  from  that  oi  America.  It  is  about  10|  miles 
long  and  about  6|  miles  broad,  with  a  mean  elevation  of 
1,400  ft.  When  first  seen  at  sea  it  presents  the  appear- 
ance of  a  naked  and  rugged  rock,  but  upon  a  nearer 
approach  the  central  eminences  are  seen  to  be  clothed 
V  Gazetteer  of  the  World. 


36   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

with  verdure.  Coming  still  closer,  these  heights  are 
concealed  from  view,  and  nothing  is  then  beheld  but  a 
girdle  of  inaccessible  precipices,  overhanging  the  ocean 
— some  of  them  exhibiting  the  most  fantastic  shapes — 
and  others  rent  down  to  their  base,  disclosing  enormous 
chasms.  Within  half  a  furlong  of  land  there  is  a  depth 
of  from  10  to  12  fathoms,  gradually  deepening  for  a 
mile  to  28  fathoms,  while  beyond  this  the  sea  is  of 
unfathomable  depth,  and  the  surf  that  beats  upon  the 
shore,  especially  about  Christmas-time,  is  tremendous. 
There  are  only  four  practicable  landing-places,  on  the 
principal  of  which  James  Town,  the  seat  of  government, 
is  situated.  All  of  these  landing-places  were  strongly 
fortified,  and  every  salient  eminence  on  the  island  had 
its  look-out  station. 

St.  Helena  is  unequally  divided  by  a  lofty  chain  of  hills, 
which  runs  in  a  curved  direction  nearly  east  and  west, 
bending  towards  the  south  at  each  extremity,  and  from 
which  alternate  ridges  and  valleys  branch  off  in  various 
directions,  but  chiefly  north  and  south.  In  a  triangular 
space  enclosed  between  lofty  heights,  about  1|  miles 
in  length,  and  350  yards  broad  at  its  base,  lies  James 
Town,  which  presents  in  its  whole  appearance  a  peculiar 
combination  of  military  strength  and  rural  simplicity. 
A  fortified  line  extending  from  cliff  to  clifE,  forms  the 
anchorage,  and  is  (or  was)  covered  with  cannon  nearly 
level  with  the  water's  edge.  Entering  the  town  by  a 
drawbridge,  and  through  an  arched  gateway,  Government 


THE  PLACE   OF  EXILE  37 

House,  known  usually  as  "  the  Castle,"  is  seen  on  the  left, 
while  fronting  the  gateway  is  the  church.  The  principal 
street  contained  about  forty  houses,  and  the  whole  town 
about  200.  The  roads  which  give  access  to  the  interior 
of  the  island,  and  which  have  been  formed  with  in- 
credible labour,  are  carried  zig-zag  up  the  sides  of  the 
hills.  For  two  miles  nothing  but  naked  sterility  and  a 
rocky  wilderness  meet  the  eye,  but  this  soon  changes 
to  wood-clad  heights,  verdant  lawns,  cultivated  planta- 
tions and  handsome  httle  country  seats.  About  three 
miles  from  the  town,  at  the  summit  of  a  hill,  is  situated 
Plantation  House,  the  Governor's  country  residence 
It  is  a  handsome,  well-built  edifice,  and  the  grounds 
have  been  made  by  cultivation  the  most  beautiful  spot 
in  the  island.  "  Longwood,"  a  name  which  has  become 
historic,  at  about  the  same  distance  from  James  Town, 
is  situated  on  an  elevated  plain,  and  has  about  it  some 
1,500  acres  of  good  meadow  land.  In  spite  of  the 
assertions  of  Napoleon  and  his  partisans  to  the  con- 
trary, it  is  pleasantly  situated,  and  the  house,  usually 
occupied  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  by  no  means 
the  squalid  hovel  described  by  the  French  captives. 
From  1808  to  1813  the  writer's  grandfather,  General 
Broughton,  was  Lieutenant-Governor  of  St.  Helena, 
and  the  writer's  mother  was  born  at  Longwood.  She 
always  had  pleasant  recollections  of  the  house,  which 
she  described  as  a  very  comfortable  country  residence, 
in  an  agreeable  and  healthy  situation.    It  was,  of  course. 


38   THE  KEAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

put  into  thorough  repair  for  the  reception  of  the  French 
exiles,  and  considerable  additions  to  it  were  subsequently 
made. 

It  was  part  of  the  poHcy  of  the  French  exiles  to 
represent  the  Island  of  St.  Helena  as  a  "  barren  rock," 
but  this  is  as  absolute  a  fable  as  the  other  statements 
concocted  by  the  Longwood  romancers.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  St.  Helena,  though,  as  we  have  said,  presenting 
a  forbidding  appearance  when  first  viewed  from  the 
sea,  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque,  fertile  and  dehghtful 
islands  in  the  world.  Its  soil  is  exuberant,  and  its 
geographical  situation  enables  it  to  produce  two  crops 
every  year. 

1  Major-General  Beatson,  who  was  Governor  from 
1808  to  1813,  and  who  was  an  agricultural  expert  of 
great  authority  and  varied  experience,  has  described 
the  island  in  his  Tracts  relative  to  the  Island  of  St.  Helena, 
published  in  1816.  In  the  preface  to  that  most  inter- 
esting and  valuable  work,  he  says  that  the  results  of 
his  investigations  and  experiments  were  most  satis- 
factory, exposing  completely  the  fallacy  of  the  popular 
idea  that  St.  Helena  was  "  a  rocky  and  unproductive 
island,  mostly  devoid  of  soil,  scantily  suppHed  with 
water,  subject  to  severe  and  unusual  droughts,  abounding 
with  rats,  and  wholly  incapable  of  extensive  cultiva- 
tion or  improvement,"  and  clearly  demonstrating  that 

^  Tracts  relative  to  the  Island  of  St  Helena,  Major-General 
Alexander  Beatson. 


THE  PLACE  OF  EXILE  39 

many  parts,  so  far  from  being  desolate  and  barren, 
were  pre-eminently  fertile,  and  that  the  island  in  general 
was  capable  of  the  highest  improvements,  both  in  the 
cultivation  of  corn  and  all  sorts  of  vegetables,  and 
in  raising  valuable  plantations  of  fruit  and  timber  trees. 

It  is  a  duty  as  well  as  a  pleasure  to  record  here  that 
this  broad-minded  and  enlightened  man — the  best 
Governor  that  St.  Helena  ever  possessed — not  only 
expressed  these  views,  but  proved  their  accuracy  by 
his  own  actions.  He  substituted  the  plough  and  the 
harrow  for  the  spade,  the  rake  and  the  hoe  in  the  culti- 
vation of  the  island,  and  obtained  the  services  of  a  practi- 
cal Norfolk  farmer  to  teach  the  inhabitants  the  new 
methods.  In  face  of  the  most  dogged  resistance  of  those 
he  sought  to  benefit,  who  were  quite  impervious  to  argu- 
ment and  reason,  he  demonstrated  the  desirability 
of  the  "  new-fangled  innovations,"  as  they  were  con- 
temptuously called;  by  his  farming  operations  at  Planta- 
tion House,  which  were  zealously  supported  at  Longwood 
by  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  General  Broughton,  until 
accomplished  facts  converted  the  most  obstinate,  and 
the  productiveness  of  the  island  was  enormously  increased 
with  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  prosperity  of  the 
inhabitants. 

Not  only  is  St.  Helena  highly  productive,  but  its 
residential  advantages  are  quite  exceptional.  The 
cUmate  is  deUghtful,  exempt  from  the  torrid  heats  of 
equatorial  countries,  and  the  bitter  frosts  of  northern 


40   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

climes.  *  General  Beatson  describes  it  as  "  perhaps 
the  mildest  and  most  salubrious  in  the  world,"  and  he 
adds  that  invalids  from  India  resort  to  the  island,  some 
of  whom  have  been  restored  to  perfect  health  after  a 
few  months'  residence.  Now,  the  commonest  disorder 
of  Anglo-Indians  was  liver  complaint,  and  yet  ^  Barry 
O'Meara,  has  the  assurance  to  say  that  it  was  "  a  disease 
extremely  prevalent  and  frequently  fatal  in  the  island." 
O'Meara,  having  staked  his  professional  reputation  upon 
his  diagnosis  of  Napoleon's  malady  as  chronic  hepatitis 
induced  by  the  climate  of  St.  Helena,  did  not  hesitate 
to  add  one  lie  more  to  the  mass  of  falsehoods  embodied 
in  his  Voice  from  St.  Helena  ;  but  to  the  unimpeachable 
testimony  of  Beatson  we  may  add  that  of  an  equally 
impartial  witness,  Walter  Henry,  who  in  his  Events  of  a 
Military  Life  writes  as  follows  :  ^  "  St.  Helena  is  cer- 
tainly a  healthy  island.  During  one  period  of  twelve 
months  we  did  not  lose  one  man  by  disease,  out  of 
five  hundred  of  the  66th.  Notwithstanding  the  asser- 
tions of  Napoleon's  adherents,  who  had  an  interest  in 
painting  the  place  in  as  dark  colours  as  they  could,  I 
must  maintain  that  we  had  no  endemic  disease  in  the 
island." 
The  scenery  is  in  places  verdant  and  pastoral,  and  in 

1  Tracts  relative  to  the  Island  of  St.   Helena,   Beatson,  pp. 
xxxiii.  and  xxxiv. 

^  A  Voice  from  St.  Helena,  O'Meara,  vol.  i.  p.  232. 
3  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,   vol.  ii.  p.  45. 


THE  PLACE  OF  EXILE  41 

others  grand  and  impressive.  Wooded  and  grassy 
valleys  are  interspersed  with  mountainous  peaks  and 
rocky  defiles,  so  that  within  its  narrow  bounds  exists 
an  ever-changing  panorama  with  which  the  eye  is 
never  tired. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  VOYAGE  TO  ST.   HELENA 

/^N  the  4th  of  August  the  Bellerojjhon  sailed  westward, 
^^  and  Napoleon  sent  to  Lord  Keith'  ^  a  protest, 
which  had  been  drawn  up  by  Las  Cases,  against  the 
decision  of  the  British  Cabinet.  This  document  was  an 
ampHfication  of  his  previous  verbal  remonstrances. 
It  repeats  the  fable  of  his  conditional  surrender  ;  asserts 
that  he  was  entrapped,  and  appeals  to  history,  which 
he  says  will  cover  England  with  infamy  for  her  treachery. 
On  the  6th  the  vessel  cast  anchor  off  Start  Point, 
and  shortly  afterwards  the  Northumherland,  which  was 
to  convey  hmi  to  St.  Helena,  arrived.  Admirals  Keith 
and  Cockburn  came  aboard  the  Belleroyhon.  The 
latter  was  in  command  of  the  Northumherland,  and 
both  Admirals  had  an  interview  ■with  Napoleon,  and 
acquainted  him  with  the  instructions  they  had  received 
regarding  his  deportation.  An  inventory  was  to  be 
made  of  all  the  money,  notes  and  diamonds  belonging 
to  the  Emperor  and  his  suite,  who  were  informed  that 
next  day  they  would  be  deprived  of  their  arms  and 

^  Memorial  de  Ste  HUene,   vol.   i.    pp.    66,  67. 
42 


THE  VOYAGE  TO  ST.  HELENA  43 

transferred  to  the  Northumberland.  Cockbiirn's  instruc- 
tions provided  for  all  eventualities.  Napoleon's  valu- 
ables were  to  be  taken  charge  of  by  him,  not  as  an  act 
of  confiscation,  but  to  ensure  that  they  were  not  made 
use  of  to  effect  the  Emperor's  escape.  The  interest  or 
principal  was  to  be  apphed  to  his  needs,  and  at  his 
discretion,  and  in  the  event  of  his  death  their  disposal 
would  be  in  accordance  with  his  will.  The  Admiral 
was  only  to  take  on  board  such  persons  as  might  express 
their  own  desire  to  accompany  the  prisoner,  and  all 
such  must  be  clearly  told  that  they  would  have  to  sub- 
mit to  the  rules  provided  to  ensure  Napoleon's  safe 
custody.  The  Emperor  was  to  be  informed  that  if  he 
attempted  to  escape  he  would  incur  the  penalty  of  im- 
prisonment, as  well  as  any  of  his  suite  concerned  in  the 
attempt.  All  letters  addressed  to  him  and  to  his  suite 
were  to  be  handed  in  the  first  instance  to  the  Admiral 
or  the  Governor,  by  whom  they  would  be  read  before 
dehvery,  and  the  same  with  regard  to  letters  written  by 
Napoleon  and  his  suite.  The  Admiral  or  Governor  was 
instructed  to  transmit  to  the  British  Government  any 
desire  or  representation  that  Napoleon  might  submit ; 
nothing  in  that  respect  was  left  to  their  discretion,  but 
the  paper  upon  which  such  representations  were  written 
must  remain  open,  so  that  they  might  be  able  to  append 
any  observations  they  might  think  fit. 
^  On  the  7th  of  August  the  French  party  went  on 
^  Memorial  de  Ste.   Helene,  vol.  i.  p.  79. 


44   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

board  the  Northumberland.  The  Emperor's  suite  con- 
sisted of  General  Bertrand  (grandiloquently  styled  the 
Grand  Marechal)  and  Madame  Bertrand,  Monsieur  and 
Madame  Montholon,  General  Gourgaud  and  the  Comte 
de  Las  Cases  and  his  son.  Besides  these,  several  ser- 
vants were  in  attendance  on  Napoleon.  On  the  9th  the 
vessel  weighed  anchor  and  the  long  voyage  began. 

^  The  Emperor  maintained  the  same  outward  appear- 
ance of  indifference  to  his  fate  which  he  had  displayed 
on  board  the  Bellerophon.  He  occasionally  conversed 
with  the  officers,  who  on  their  part  showed  him  a  defer- 
ential courtesy.  The  party  at  dinner  was  composed 
of  Napoleon  and  his  suite,  the  Admiral,  Captain  Ross, 
commander  of  the  Northumberland,  and  one  or  two  of 
the  other  officers  specially  invited  by  the  Admiral. 
The  repast  was  long,  although  the  dishes  were  not  much 
in  accordance  with  a  French  palate.  The  EngUsh  cus- 
tom of  remaining  a  long  time  at  table  after  the  dessert 
to  drink  and  chat  was  not  at  all  to  the  hldng  of  the 
Emperor,  whose  habit  was  seldom  to  extend  his  dinner 
beyond  a  quarter  of  an  hour ;  and  the  Admiral  was 
greatly  disconcerted  when  Napoleon,  on  the  very  first 
day,  retired  from  table  immediately  after  coffee  had 
been  served,  followed  by  Bertrand  and  Las  Cases.  The 
Admiral,  however,  was  a  good-natured  man,  and  he 
took  care  for  the  future  to  conform  to  the  Emperor's 
custom  in  this  respect.  When  Napoleon  quitted  the 
1  Ibid.  pp.  100,  etc. 


THE  VOYAGE  TO  ST.  HELENA  45 

dining-room  all  rose  and  remained  standing  until  he 
had  reached  the  door,  and  then  those  who  stayed  behind 
continued  to  drink  their  wine  and  gossip  for  another 
hour.  The  Emperor  then  usually  promenaded  on  the 
bridge  until  nightfall  with  Bertrand  and  Las  Cases, 
after  which  all  the  French  party  gathered  in  the  salon, 
and  enjoyed  a  game  of  vingt-et-un,  and  so  brought  the 
day  to  a  close. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  captive  was  an  object 
of  intense  interest  on  board — not  only  to  the  ofl&cers, 
but  also  to  the  crew.  His  name  had  so  long  been  a  terror 
to  the  EngUsh  people  that  among  the  vulgar  an  imagin- 
ary "  Boney  "  had  been  conjured  up — a  sort  of  bogey- 
man whose  name  was  invoked  to  frighten  naughty 
children  in  the  nursery.  The  popular  imagination  had 
pictured  him  as  a  truculent  ruffian  of  forbidding  appear- 
ance, and  when  the  crew  beheld  an  agreeable  gentleman, 
with  courtly  manners  and  refined  and  handsome  counte- 
nance, their  astonishment  was  unbounded.  ^The  middies 
were  particularly  struck  with  his  affabihty,  and  Napoleon 
manifested  a  strong  interest  in  them.  During  the  voy- 
age a  man  fell  overboard,  causing  a  great  commotion 
among  the  crew.  One  of  the  middies,  seeing  Las  Cases 
hastening  towards  the  Emperor's  cabin,  seized  him  by 
the  coat  and  exclaimed,  "  Ah,  sir,  don't  alarm  him. 
Tell  him  that  noise  is  nothing,  that  it  is  only  a  man  in 
the  sea."  Every  evening  an  interesting  and  pleasing 
^  Memorial  de  Stea  Helene,  vol.  i.  pp.  106,  125. 


46   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

scene  was  witnessed.  ^  Early  each  morning  the  sailors 
brought  their  hammocks  and  slung  them,  rolled  up, 
to  the  sides  of  the  ship,  and  at  six  in  the  evening,  at 
the  sound  of  the  boatswain's  whistle,  they  again  removed 
them,  amidst  considerable  bustle.  At  this  moment 
five  or  six  of  the  youngsters  would  make  a  circle  round 
the  Emperor,  whether  he  was  on  the  bridge  or  seated 
on  a  favourite  cannon,  following  his  movements  with 
anxious  eye,  and  keeping  the  seamen  at  a  respectful 
distance.  This  gun,  by  the  way,  became  so  closely 
associated  with  Napoleon's  personality  that  it  was 
soon  known  to  all  on  board  the  ship  as  "  the  Emperor's 
cannon." 

^  On  the  23rd  of  September  the  Northumberland 
"  crossed  the  hne,"  and  the  usual  ceremonies  were 
observed.  "  Neptune  "  wielded  his  razor,  and  the  ofl&cers 
themselves  had  to  submit  to  his  none-too-tender  atten- 
tions. The  French  party  were  alone  exempted  from 
the  ordeal  "  by  special  permission  of  the  Admiral," 
who,  up  to  the  last  moment,  however,  had  maUciously 
alarmed  them  with  the  prospect  of  the  operation  in  store 
for  them.  They  were  conducted,  with  every  manifesta- 
tion of  respect,  to  the  feet  of  the  '  Sea  God,"  who 
deigned  to  bestow  on  each  of  them  an  appropriate  com- 
pliment. The  Emperor  was  scrupulously  respected 
during  the  whole  of  this  grotesque  saturnaha,  in  which, 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  HeLene,  vol.  i.  pp.   125,   126. 

2  Ibid.  p.  203. 


THE  VOYAGE  TO  ST.  HELENA  47 

as  a  rule,  nobody  is  respected.  In  consideration  of  his 
immunity  he  expressed  a  desire  to  distribute  a  hundred 
napoleons  among  the  crew,  but  the  Admiral  discounte- 
nanced the  idea,  from  motives  of  prudence  and  polite- 
ness. 

The  rest  of  the  voyage,  which  was  prolonged  con- 
siderably beyond  the  usual  time  by  the  route  taken 
by  the  Admiral,  passed  in  unvarying  monotony,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  14th  of  October  that  St.  Helena 
was  sighted,  and  at  midday  on  the  15th  anchor  was 
cast,  seventy  days  after  leaving  England. 

^The  Emperor  was  early  on  the  bridge,  and  atten- 
tively scanned  his  place  of  exile  through  his  glasses, 
without  showing  the  shghtest  trace  of  emotion. 

No  preparations  appeared  to  have  been  made  for 
the  reception  of  the  exiles.  The  whole  matter  seems  to 
have  been  rushed  through  with  extreme  haste,  as  though 
the  British  Government  were  afraid  to  allow  the  fallen 
Emperor  to  remain  for  a  moment  longer  than  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  off  the  EugUsh  coast.  ^  The  Admiral 
had  gone  early  on  shore  to  arrange  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  captives,  and  returned  at  six  in  the  evening 
tired  out  with  his  exertions.  He  had  examined  every 
possible  locality,  and  beheved  he  had  found  something 
suitable  ;   but  it  would  require  some  two  months  to  put 


^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Uelene,  vol.  i.  p.  256. 
2  Ibid.  p.  257, 


48   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

the  place  into  proper  repair,  and  the  instructions  of 
the  Ministry  were  precise  that  the  prisoners  should  be 
kept  on  board  the  ship  until  their  quarters  on  land 
were  quite  ready  for  them.  The  Admiral,  however, 
assumed  the  responsibiUty  of  ignoring  this  part  of  his 
orders,  and  informed  the  captives,  with  manifest  satis- 
faction, that  he  would  take  upon  himself  to  land  them 
on  the  morrow. 

On  the  16th  of  October  Napoleon,  with  Bertrand,  was 
accordingly  conveyed  to  the  shore.  By  a  spontaneous 
impulse  the  whole  of  the  ship's  ofl&cers  assembled  on 
the  poop,  and  most  of  the  crew  lined  the  gangways. 
It  was  not  a  movement  of  mere  curiosity  ;  it  was  rather 
a  manifestation  of  regard  for  the  man  who  had  been 
their  guest  for  three  months,  and  in  whom  they  had 
become  so  deeply  interested.  Had  Napoleon  subse- 
quently conducted  himself  with  the  dignity  and  restraint 
which  he  displayed  on  board  the  Bellerophon  and  the 
Northumberland,  his  Hfe  at  St.  Helena  would  have  been 
a  fairly  pleasant  one.  Unfortunately,  we  shall  soon 
see  him  reveahng  the  ugly  side  of  his  character,  and 
letting  his  "coltish  nature  break"  at  frequent  intervals 
through  "  the  gilded  pale." 

Before  descending  into  the  boat  that  was  to  convey 
him  ashore,  the  Emperor  called  the  Captain  and  took 
leave  of  him,  requesting  him  to  transmit  his  thanks 
to  the  officers  and  crew,  and  these  gracious  words 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  all  who  heard  them. 


THE  VOYAGE  TO  ST.   HELENA  49 

The  rest  of  the  Emperor's  suite  landed  at  about 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  accompanied  by  several 
of  the  ofl&cers,  and  amidst  manifestations  of  sympathy 
from  all  those  who  witnessed  the  departure. 


CHAPTER  IV 

"  THE   BRIARS  " 

^rpHE  next  morning,  at  six  o'clock,  the  Emperor, 
Bertrand  and  the  Admiral  rode  over  to  Longwood. 
On  their  way  back  they  noticed  a  small  comitry  house, 
about  two  miles  from  James  Town.  Napoleon  greatly 
disUked  the  idea  of  returning  to  his  quarters  of  the  pre- 
vious night,  where  he  had  found  himself  even  more 
confined  than  he  had  been  on  board  ship.  Sentries 
had  guarded  the  entrance,  and  he  had  been  restricted 
entirely  to  his  room.  A  small  summer-house  attached 
to  this  country  residence  greatly  took  his  fancy,  and 
the  Admiral  agreed  that  it  would  be  pleasanter  there 
than  in  the  town. 

The  valley,  at  the  foot  of  which  lies  James  Town, 
winds  between  two  chains  of  sterile  hills,  which  close 
it  in.  Along  it  runs  a  well-kept  carriage  road,  which 
at  the  end  of  about  two  miles  is  continued  on  the  side 
of  the  mountain,  which  bounds  it  on  the  left,  while 
on  the  right  are  deep  precipices  and  rocky  ravines. 
Soon,  however,  the  road  ascends  to  a  small  plateau  upon 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  p.  260. 
50 


THE  BRIARS  51 

which  stand  some  buildings,  amidst  shrubberies  and 
copses.  ^  It  was  here  that  Napoleon  saw  the  house 
that  so  much  pleased  him,  which  belonged  to  a  merchant 
of  the  island  named  Balcombe,  and  was  called  "  The 
Briars." 

It  was  a  small  residence  for  a  man  who  had  so  long 
been  accustomed  to  Hve  in  palaces ;  but  after  all  it 
was  better  than  the  surroundings  of  his  childhood,  and 
infinitely  better  than  Siberia  or  Spielberg.  He  had 
played  a  great  game  and  had  lost  it,  and  it  would  have 
been  well  for  him  had  he  paid  the  stakes  with  dignity 
and  resignation.  As  a  matter  of  fact  no  man  in  history 
who  has  similarly  fallen  has  been  treated  with  such 
indulgence  and  consideration. 

Here,  then,  the  Emperor  decided  to  stay  until  Long- 
wood  was  ready  for  his  reception.  Las  Cases  bore  him 
company,  and  his  two  valets  were  in  attendance  on  him. 
The  Balcombe  family  occupied  that  part  of  the  house 
not  reserved  for  Napoleon.  The  family  consisted  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Balcombe  and  two  daughters,  aged  re- 
spectively fourteen  and  fifteen.  These  young  ladies 
were  a  frequent  source  of  amusement  to  the  Emperor 
and  greatly  reheved  the  tedium  of  his  sojourn.  One 
was  lively  and  giddy  and  respected  nothing,  the  other 
of  graver  deportment  but  extremely  artless ;  they 
often  met  the  exile  in  the  garden,  and  those  interviews 
never  failed  to  divert  the  Emperor,  who  was  much  tickled 
^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  p.  262. 


52   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

with  the  naive  freedom  and  famiharity  of  their  address. 

It  was  at  The  Briars  that  Napoleon  began  first  to 
exhibit  those  outbursts  of  temper  to  which  were  due  in 
the  main  all  the  miseries  of  his  exile.  These  paroxysms 
of  fury  were  succeeded  by  fits  of  moroseness,  and  his 
whole  conduct  resembled  that  of  a  wild  animal  when 
kept  in  confinement.  To  every  visitor  whom  he  could 
get  to  listen  to  him  he  repeated  his  groundless  charges 
of  perfidy  against  the  British  Government,  and  he  sent 
to  England  innumerable  written  protests  against  his 
detention,  which  he  must  have  known  could  produce 
no  practical  result.  ^  Otherwise  his  time  was  occupied 
in  reading,  dictating  his  memoirs  to  Las  Cases,  or  spend- 
ing an  evening  with  the  Balcombes,  where  the  two  young 
ladies  and  their  mother  joined  him  in  a  game  of  whist. 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  Napoleon's  quarrels 
with  the  authorities  of  St.  Helena  began  with  the  advent 
of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  but  this  is  quite  a  mistake. 
2  One  of  his  first  grievances  was  that  an  ofl&cer  had  been 
placed  to  keep  watch  over  him,  and  to  accompany  him 
when  riding — and,  in  fact,  never  to  lose  sight  of  him  from 
morning  to  night.  It  may  well  be  imagined  that  this 
was  not  a  congenial  duty  for  any  British  officer  to  per- 
form, and  when  Las  Cases  told  him  of  the  vexation 
of  the  Emperor  at  this  constant  surveillance,  he  replied 
that  he  would  take  upon  himself  the  responsibihty  of 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  p.  276. 
2  Ibid,  part  2,  p.  62. 


THE  BRIARS  53 

allowing  Napoleon  to  ride  out  alone.  When  the  Emperor 
was  informed  of  this  he  rephed  that  he  would  on  no 
account  consent  to  an  arrangement  which  might  compro- 
mise the  officer.  This  proved  to  be  a  correct  view  of  the 
situation,  as  the  Admiral,  on  being  informed  of  the  com- 
pact, peremptorily  told  his  subordinate  to  adhere  strictly 
to  his  instructions.  The  Emperor  thereupon  returned 
the  three  horses  which  had  been  placed  at  his  disposal. 
This  episode  shows  the  best  side  of  Napoleon's  character, 
and  the  following  anecdote  also  displays  him  in  a  very 
pleasing  hght.  ^  While  walking  one  day  with  the  Bal- 
combes  and  Mrs.  Stuart,  a  friend  of  theirs,  a  train  of 
negro  slaves  was  encountered,  carrying  heavy  loads 
towards  the  town.  Mrs.  Balcombe  harshly  ordered 
them  to  stand  out  of  the  way,  upon  which  the  Emperor 
said  reprovingly,  "  Madam,  respect  the  burden."  Mrs. 
Stuart,  who  had  been  eagerly  studying  the  Emperor's 
characteristics  and  physiognomy,  was  greatly  struck 
with  the  nobihty  of  this  reproof,  and  said  in  a  low  voice 
to  Mrs.  Balcombe,  "  Heavens  !  how  different  from  what 
I  have  been  led  to  beheve  !  " 

While  Napoleon  was  thus  living  at  The  Briars,  Long- 
wood  was  being  prepared  as  his  permanent  residence. 
It  was  a  much  larger  house,  and  afiorded  accommodation 
for  several  of  his  suite  who,  for  the  present,  were  lodged 
in  James  Town.    ^  The  soldiers  brought  from  England 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  p.  327. 
8  Ibid.  p.  373. 


54   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

in  the  Northumberland  (belonging  to  the  53rd  Regiment) 
were  encamped  in  its  vicinity,  and  the  Colonel  gave  a 
ball,  to  which  he  invited  the  members  of  Napoleon's 
suite.  At  the  Emperor's  request  Las  Cases  accepted  the 
invitation,  in  order  that  he  might  see  and  report  upon 
the  new  domicile,  and  he  went  there  in  a  carriage  drawn 
by  six  oxen,  a  proof  of  the  primitive  arrangements 
existing  at  that  time  on  the  island  and  the  difficulty 
of  the  roads.  Las  Cases'  description  of  the  place  did 
not  favourably  impress  his  master.  ^  Montholon,  Ber- 
trand  and  Gourgaud  subsequently  visited  it,  and  a  heated 
controversy  arose  as  to  whether  the  smell  of  new  paint, 
to  which  the  Emperor  was  peculiarly  sensitive,  had 
sufficiently  disappeared  to  make  it  possible  for  him  to  go 
there.  The  Admiral,  however,  was  extremely  anxious 
to  get  his  charges  into  their  permanent  residence  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  Napoleon  himself  was  eager 
for  the  change.  He  found  his  quarters  at  The  Briars 
were  uncomfortable,  and  he  was  isolated  from  his 
friends ;  while  at  Longwood  he  would  be  able  to  receive 
what  company  he  chose,  or  if  he  preferred  it,  to  seclude 
himself  entirely  from  the  outer  world. 

2  It  was  on  the  10th  of  December  that  the  removal 
took  place.  In  the  morning  he  invited  Mr.  Balcombe 
to  breakfast  with  him,  and  at  two  in  the  afternoon  he 
received  a  visit  from  the  Admiral,  between  whom  and 

^  Ibid.  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.  16. 

2  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  3,  p.  25. 


THE  BRIARS  55 

the  Emperor  strained  relations  now  existed.  The  latter 
resented  the  continual  supervision  exercised  over  him, 
as  well  as  over  those  of  his  suite  who  were  located  in  the 
town.  This  perverse  and  wrong-headed  view  of  his 
relations  with  the  island  authorities  was  at  the  bottom 
of  Napoleon's  troubles.  He  seems  entirely  to  have  for- 
gotten that  neither  the  Admiral  nor  the  Governor  who 
succeeded  him  was  responsible  for  the  arrangements 
made  for  his  safe  custody.  They  were  bound  by  their 
instructions,  and  Napoleon,  as  a  mihtary  commander, 
should  have  remembered  that  an  ofl&cer  must  obey 
orders,  and  that  it  is  the  acme  of  unreason  to  feel  a 
personal  animosity  towards  him  who  is  merely  the  in- 
strument of  a  superior  authority.  His  resentment 
against  the  English  Government  was  natural,  though 
not,  in  view  of  the  circumstances,  justifiable,  but  his 
attitude  of  hostiUty  to  those  whom  that  Government 
employed  was  not  only  irrational,  but  most  impohtic, 
seeing  how  completely  he  was  in  their  power.  Human 
nature  being  what  it  is,  his  persistent  affronts  and 
insults,  both  to  Cockburn  and  to  Lowe,  could  not  be 
expected  to  result  in  a  relaxation  of  the  rules  laid 
down  for  their  guidance. 

However,  on  this  occasion  he  was  civil  to  the  Admiral, 
who,  after  some  conversation,  accompanied  him  to 
Longwood.    ^  It  is  recorded  by  Las  Cases  that  during 

^  Memorial  de  Sie.  Helme,  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.  28. 


56   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

the  ride  Cockburn  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to 
concihate  his  charge  and  keep  him  in  good  humour. 
Longwood  was  reached  towards  four  in  the  after- 
noon. 


CHAPTER  V 

LONGWOOD 

nnHE  house  in  which  Napoleon  was  to  pass  the  rest 
of  his  hfe  was  usually  occupied  by  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  island.  As  that  functionary  was  almost 
always  an  officer  of  rank  in  the  army  of  the  East  India 
Company,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  it  was  a  fairly  com- 
fortable residence.  The  Napoleonic  fanatics,  in  their 
desire  to  throw  dirt  on  the  British  Government,  have 
endeavoured  to  describe  it  as  practically  unfit  for  human 
habitation,  but  this,  as  we  have  shown,  is  a  gross  mis- 
representation. The  fact  is,  when  people  are  obsessed 
with  Napoleon  worship,  they  seem  ready  to  go  to  all 
lengths  in  idolatry  of  their  fetish  ;  and  indeed  those 
who  are  capable  of  admiring  his  career,  which  was  one 
long  negation  of  the  elementary  laws  of  God  and 
man,  are,  as  Voltaire  said  of  the  prophet  Habakkuk, 
capable  de  tout. 

Longwood  is  situated  on  a  plateau  in  one  of  the 
highest  parts  of  the  island.  From  one  side  the  Atlantic 
is  seen  stretching  far  away  to  the  horizon ;  on  the 
other  rugged  mountains  close  in  the  view.     With  the 

57 


58   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

object  of  increasing  the  comfort  of  Napoleon  and  his 
suite,  considerable  additions  had  been  made  to  the 
house  since  the  exiles  had  arrived  at  St.  Helena.  In 
fact,  so  far  from  the  Government  having  thrust  the 
Emperor  into  an  uninhabitable  hovel,  every  efiort  had 
been  made  to  accommodate  him,  and  the  only  substan- 
tial complaint  that  was  urged  against  his  new  sur- 
roundings was  that  the  odour  of  the  fresh  paint  was 
still  sufficiently  strong  to  offend  his  imperial  nostrils. 

The  household  at  Longwood  consisted  of  Napoleon 
himself,  M.  and  Madame  de  Montholon  and  their  son, 
and  M.  de  Las  Cases  and  his  son.  Besides  these  there 
were  the  servants,  of  whom  the  Emperor  had  a  goodly 
supply.  Three  valets  de  chambre,  an  usher,  two  grooms, 
a  valet  de  pied,  a  maitre  dliotel,  an  "  officier,''  a  cook 
and  an  "  argentier.^'  Was  there  ever  in  all  history  a 
"  martyr  "  so  attended  ?  Was  there  ever  a  prisoner 
of  State  so  pampered  ?  Had  the  bastilles  of  old  France 
been  conducted  on  such  principles,  there  would  have 
been  keen  competition  to  get  into  them,  instead  of 
ingenious  attempts  to  get  out.  Happy  would  have 
been  some  of  those  whom  Napoleon  had  himself  in- 
carcerated without  trial,  if  they  had  had  nothing  to 
complain  of  but  the  smell  of  paint ! 

^  General  Gourgaud,  pending  the  preparation  of  his 
apartment  in  the  house,  was  lodged  in  a  tent  in  the 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.  34. 


LONGWOOD  59 

garden,  no  great  hardship  for  a  man  accustomed  to 
campaigning.  "  Grand  Marechal "  Bertrand,  his  wife 
and  his  children,  were  installed  in  a  house  near 
Longwood. 

It  is  evident  that  Napoleon  had  not  much  to  complain 
of.  He  was  surrounded  by  faithful  friends  ;  his  wants 
were  attended  to  by  an  army  of  domestics,  and  he  had 
a  medical  man  whose  sole  duty  was  to  safeguard  his 
health.  Granted  the  necessity  of  restraining  his  capacity 
for  mischief,  nothing  could  have  been  more  indulgent 
than  the  arrangements  made  in  his  regard  by  the 
British  Government,  acting  as  mandatory  of  the  aUied 
Powers. 

*  On  taking  up  his  abode  at  Longwood,  the  first 
thing  that  Napoleon  undertook  was  the  organization 
of  his  household.  Various  departments  were  distributed 
among  the  suite.  Bertrand  had  the  general  superin- 
tendence of  the  establishment ;  de  Montholon  controlled 
domestic  details ;  Gourgaud  was  to  look  after  the 
stables,  and  Las  Cases  had  the  care  of  the  furniture  and 
fittings.  The  last-named  office  was  soon  relinquished 
by  its  holder,  who  found  it  clashed  with  that  of 
de  Montholon.  ^j^  point  of  fact  these  methodical 
arrangements  soon  proved  very  unsatisfactory  in  prac- 
tice, and  here  we  come  to  one  of  the  leading  causes  of 


^  Memorial  de  Ste.  HeLene,  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.  36,  etc. 
»  Ibid.  p.  37. 


60   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Napoleon's  unhappiness.  We  have  spoken  of  his  being 
surrounded  by  faithful  friends,  but  the  inveterate 
tendency  of  Frenchmen  to  quarrel  among  themselves 
soon  made  itself  apparent  even  at  St.  Helena.  This 
defect  largely  accounts  for  the  failure  of  France  all 
over  the  world,  when  she  has  been  opposed  by  England. 
WelHngton's  successes  in  Spain  and  Portugal  were  to  a 
great  extent  attributable  to  the  jealousies  of  the  marshals, 
which  at  least  on  one  occasion  saved  the  Iron  Duke 
from  imminent  danger.  The  same  characteristic  had 
been  displayed  in  the  great  struggle  for  India ;  ^  and  the 
quarrels  and  hatred  which  broke  out  during  the  Moscow 
campaign  are  notorious.  One  would  have  supposed 
that,  at  all  events  at  St.  Helena,  placed  as  they  were, 
a  small  band  of  exiles  amidst  their  hereditary  enemies, 
the  Frenchmen  would  have  lived  like  a  band  of  brothers. 
So  far  from  this  being  the  case,  their  mutual  suspicion 
and  animosity,  which  frequently  burst  out  into  open 
hostility,  poisoned  the  Emperor's  existence,  and  aggra- 
vated his  natural  irritability.  They  were  all  united 
in  afiection  for  him  and  disUke  of  each  other.  ^  At 
the  very  commencement  of  their  Ufe  at  Longwood  Las 
Cases  states  that  the  allotment  of  the  various  posts  gave 
rise  to  jealousies,  sowing  seeds  of  estrangement,  which 
frequently  pierced  through  the  surface.     One  considered 


^  Histoire  de  la  Grande  Armee,  De  Segur,  vol.  ii.  p.  126,  etc. 
'  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  2,  pp.  37,  38. 


LONGWOOD  61 

he  had  lost  caste ;  another  desired  to  give  too  much 
importance  to  his  duties ;  while  yet  another  considered 
himself  shghted  by  the  ofl&ce  assigned  to  him.  "  We 
were  not,"  says  the  Count,  "  members  of  the  same 
family,  each  of  whom  devoting  himself  to  his  own  sphere, 
only  thought  of  the  general  good.  That  which  a  sense 
of  duty  should  have  prompted  us  to  do,  we  were  far 
from  performing  in  practice  ;  we  spent  our  time  in 
cavilUng  over  the  absence  of  some  luxury,  or  the  vanished 
hopes  of  some  ambition.  We  formed  at  Long  wood  a 
mass  held  together  rather  by  enclosure  than  by  cohesion. 
This  was  inevitable,  for  we  were  almost  entire  strangers 
to  each  other  ;  and,  unfortunately,  not  at  all  calculated 
to  harmonize,  either  by  circumstances,  age,  or  disposi- 
tions." 

This  not  only  destroyed  that  mutual  confidence 
and  intimate  union  which  can  alleviate  the  hardships 
of  the  most  cruel  misfortunes,  but  it  made  the  Emperor's 
position  extremely  unpleasant.  It  forced  him  frequently 
to  make  indirect  appeals  for  brotherly  love  among 
his  troublesome  associates ;  ^  it  was  a  continual  strain 
upon  him  to  remove  all  causes  of  jealousy,  and  he  was 
compelled  occasionally  to  go  further  and  openly  reprove 
his  followers  for  their  unworthy  bickerings.  On  one 
of  these  occasions,  he  pointed  out  the  vexatious  folly 
of  their  conduct  in  the   circmnstances  in  which  they 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  HUene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  49, 


62   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

were  placed.  They  should  make  mutual  sacrifices, 
and  not  attach  too  much  importance  to  trifling  incon- 
veniences. They  were  to  endeavour  to  be  one  family. 
They  had  come  there  voluntarily  to  mitigate  the  sorrow 
of  his  banishment,  and  their  quarrels  only  aggravated 
it.  Differences  were  inevitable,  but  they  should  be 
settled  by  mutual  explanations  and  not  by  sulking, 
and  much  more  to  the  same  effect. 

These  quarrels  reached  a  climax  later  on,  when  a 
challenge  to  mortal  combat  was  exchanged  between 
two  of  the  suite.  ^  When  this  came  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  Emperor  he  was  furious,  and  when  all  were 
assembled  around  the  dinner-table  he  expressed  his  dis- 
pleasure and  irritation  in  the  strongest  language.  "  You 
have  accompanied  me  here,"  said  he,  "  to  make  yourselves 
agreeable  to  me.  Act  Uke  brothers,  otherwise  you  are 
simply  a  nuisance.  You  wish  to  make  me  happy — 
act  like  brothers  then,  otherwise  you  are  only  a  torment. 
You  talk  of  fighting,  under  my  very  eyes  !  am  I  then  no 
longer  the  object  of  your  consideration  ?  Remember 
that  the  eyes  of  the  foreigner  are  upon  us.  I  want 
every  one  here  to  be  actuated  by  my  spirit ;  I  want  you 
all  to  be  happy  around  me,  and  that  each  should  enjoy 
to  the  utmost  the  few  pleasures  that  remain  to  us." 
This  outburst  only  ended  with  the  repast,  after  which 
the  Emperor  relapsed  into  a  moody  silence,  as  well 
he  might. 

1  Ibid.  p.  95. 


LONGWOOD  63 

Worried  in  this  way  by  the  misconduct  of  his  friends, 
Napoleon  became  more  and  more  restive  imder  his 
banishment ;  and  he  brooded  over  the  restrictions 
which,  in  the  circmnstances,  were  unavoidable.  ^  One 
of  the  main  causes  of  his  resentment  was  the  regula- 
tion which  compelled  him  to  be  accompanied  by  a 
British  officer  whenever  he  took  exercise  on  horseback. 
This  was  a  continual  reminder  to  him  of  the  unfortunate 
situation  into  which  he  had  brought  himself  by  his  long 
career  of  violence  and  lawlessness.  The  officer  charged 
with  this  unpleasant  duty  endeavoured  to  discharge  it 
with  the  utmost  regard  for  the  Emperor's  feehngs,  and 
the  exile  would  have  been  better  advised  had  he  accepted 
the  situation  without  complaint.  The  company  of  an 
Enghsh  gentleman  was,  after  all,  not  such  a  very  onerous 
burden  to  bear ;  and  one  would  have  thought  that  it 
might  have  proved  a  pleasant  reHef  from  the  cantanker- 
ous and  quarrelsome  coterie  with  which  he  was  sur- 
rounded. He  not  only  resented  the  presence  of  this 
officer,  however,  but  visited  it  with  personal  hatred 
upon  the  Admiral,  and  subsequently  on  the  Governor. 
As  one  who  had  not  been  accustomed  to  brook  disobedi- 
ence to  his  orders,  he  should  have  remembered  that  the 
authorities  at  St.  Helena  were  only  carrying  out  expHcit 
instructions  from  the  Government  they  served,  and 
that  it  was  not  only  impoUtic,  but  quite  unreasonable,  to 

^  Memorial  de  Std  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.  Ill,  etc. 


64   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

cherish  personal  animosity  towards  them.  His  behaviour 
in  this  respect  shows  a  httleness  of  character  which 
proves  that,  Hke  most  other  men  dubbed  with  the 
epithet  of  "  great,"  he  had  Httle  real  claim  to  the  distinc- 
tion. However,  so  irritated  was  he  by  this  regulation, 
that  he  expressed  his  determination  to  forego  horse 
exercise  altogether  rather  than  submit  to  it.  He 
thus  manufactured  another  so-called  "  indignity  "  for 
European  consumption. 

Another  and  much  more  substantial  grievance  was 
also  of  a  sentimental  character.  This  was  the  order 
issued  by  the  British  Government  that  Napoleon  should 
be  addressed  as  "  General  Bonaparte "  and  not  as 
"  Emperor."  Here,  it  must  be  admitted,  the  alUed 
Powers  went  beyond  the  necessities  of  the  case.  To  make 
provision  for  his  safe  custody,  and  take  every  precaution 
against  his  escape,  was  one  thing  ;  to  deny  him  the  title 
by  which  he  had  been  recognized  for  eleven  years, 
which  had  been  ratified  by  the  votes  of  the  French 
people,  and  under  which  the  Powers  had  sent  him  am- 
bassadors, and  concluded  treaties  with  him,  was  quite 
another  matter.  As  Emperor  of  the  French  he  had 
alHed  himself  in  marriage  with  the  proudest  and  most 
ancient  dynasty  in  Europe  ;  Idngs  had  vied  with  each 
other  to  secure  his  protection,  and  had  not  only  recog- 
nized his  imperial  dignity,  but  also  the  kings  which  he 
had  created. 

This   order   was   based   on   a   fiction.    When   Louis 


LONGWOOD  65 

XVIII  ascended  the  French  throne,  he  pretended  that 
he  had  occupied  it  from  the  death  of  the  Dauphin, 
ostrich-hke  ignoring  the  Repubhc,  the  Directory,  the 
Consulate,  and  the  Empire.  This  was  all  very  well  for 
the  fanatics  who  clung  to  the  effete  superstition  of 
"  the  right  divine  of  kings  to  govern  wrong,"  but  it  was 
an  impossible  attitude  for  the  alhed  Powers  to  assume. 
They,  at  all  events,  had  recognized  accomplished  facts, 
and  had  troubled  themselves  not  at  all  about  the  legiti- 
mist pretensions  of  the  exiled  Bourbons.  It  was  rather 
paltry  thus  to  insult  the  man  before  whom  they  had 
been  cowering  for  years  past.  But  here  again,  the 
Emperor  should  have  remembered  that  his  guardians 
were  not  personally  responsible  for  the  decree.  It 
was  the  British  Govermnent,  acting  in  concert  with  the 
other  Powers,  and  supported  by  the  Tory  majority  in 
ParUament,  who  were  to  blame,  and  it  was  as  unjust  as 
it  was  impoHtic  for  Napoleon  to  visit  it  upon  the  heads 
of  those  in  whose  custody  he  was  placed.  But  we 
shall  presently  see  that  this  attitude  of  the  Emperor 
was  part  of  a  settled  pohcy  to  enable  him  to  pose  as  a 
martyr  before  the  eyes  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER   VI 

napoleon's  relations  with  admiral  cockburn 

A  S  we  have  already  said,  Napoleon's  quarrel  with 
those  set  over  him  began  long  before  the  appear- 
ance of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  upon  the  scene.  To  saddle 
the  Governor,  therefore,  with  responsibility  for  these 
quarrels  is  utterly  unjust.  Floods  of  obloquy  have 
been  poured  out  on  the  devoted  head  of  Lowe  for  his 
alleged  barbarity  to  his  prisoner,  but  nothing  is  ever 
said  about  the  friction  which  existed  between  that 
unmanageable  person  and  the  Admiral.  It  is  neverthe- 
less certain  that  Napoleon  hated  the  sailor  with  an 
intensity  that  was  only  exceeded  and  echpsed  by  his 
subsequent  hatred  of  the  soldier ;  and  as  the  latter 
was  in  authority  for  years  and  the  former  for  months, 
the  opportunities  afforded  for  quarrelling  were  much 
greater  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other.  The  fact  is 
that  whoever  had  been  delegated  to  look  after  him 
would  have  incurred  Napoleon's  hatred.  Had  the 
archangel  Gabriel  been  appointed  Governor  of  St. 
Helena,  Napoleon  would  have  fitted  him  with  cloven 
hoofs  and  all  the  other  attributes  of  the  devil.    He  would 

66 


RELATIONS  WITH  ADMIRAL  COCKBURN     67 

only  have  seen  in  him  the  incarnation  and  embodiment 
of  England,  the  nation  he  had  devoted  his  life  to  crushing, 
and  which  had  finally  crushed  him. 

1  The  Right  Hon.  Sir  George  Cockburn,  Admiral  of  the 
Fleet,  was  born  in  1772,  the  son  of  Sir  James  Cockburn, 
Bart.,  and  entered  the  Navy  at  the  age  of  nine.  He 
became  lieutenant  in  1793,  and  was  promoted  shortly 
afterwards  to  the  command  of  the  sloop  Speedy. 
In  1794  he  became  post-captain  on  the  Meleager 
frigate,  and  was  employed  in  the  Gulf  of  Genoa,  under 
the  immediate  orders  of  Nelson,  whose  friendship  he 
enjoyed.  In  1796  Cockburn  was  transferred  to  the 
frigate  Minerve,  one  of  England's  innumerable  captures 
from  the  French,  on  which  Nelson  hoisted  his  broad 
pennant.  After  taking  several  important  prizes, 
the  Minerve  ran  through  the  Spanish  fleet  and  joined 
that  of  Sir  John  Jervis  the  day  before  the  battle  of 
Cape  St.  Vincent.  The  Minerve  afterwards  continued 
in  the  Mediterranean  till  the  peace,  capturing  numerous 
prizes,  and  then  returning  to  England,  was  paid  off  in 
February,  1802. 

In  July,  1803,  Cockburn  was  appointed  to  the  Phaeton, 
in  which  he  spent  the  next  two  years  in  the  East  Indies. 
In  1806  he  went  to  the  Pompee,  and  took  an  important 
part  in  the  reduction  of  Martinique,  His  next  ship 
was  the  Belle-Isle,  in  which  he  brought  back  to  Europe 
the  prizes  and  garrison  captured  at  Martinique.  The 
1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 


68   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

latter  were  first  taken  to  Quiberon  Bay  for  exchange, 
but  being  unable  to  arrange  matters  with  the  French 
authorities,  Cockburn  carried  the  prisoners  to  Ports- 
mouth. He  afterwards  commanded  the  flotilla  of 
gunboats  in  the  reduction  of  Flushing,  and  covered  the 
retreat  of  the  British  Army  when  it  withdrew  from  the 
Scheldt.  He  was  next  appointed  to  the  Indefatigable, 
and  was  sent  to  Quiberon  Bay  to  land  two  agents 
who  had  undertaken  to  effect  the  escape  of  the  King 
of  Spain,  whom  Napoleon,  with  the  basest  treachery, 
had  immured  in  the  castle  of  Valengay.  The  men  were 
speedily  arrested,  however,  and  Cockburn  returned  to 
England.  He  was  sent  to  Cadiz,  then  (1810)  besieged 
by  the  French,  where  he  again  rendered  important 
services.  He  subsequently  distinguished  himself  at 
Havana,  and  in  1811  was  appointed  commissioner  to 
mediate  between  Spain  and  her  South  American  colonies, 
but  without  success.  On  the  12th  of  August,  1811, 
he  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Rear- Admiral,  and  hoisting 
his  flag  on  the  Marlborough,  took  command  of  the 
squadron  before  Cadiz.  The  war  with  the  United 
States,  however,  sent  him  to  the  Bermudas,  whence  he 
sailed  to  attack  the  enemy  in  the  Chesapeake,  upon 
whom  he  inflicted  considerable  damage.  He  took  part 
in  the  brilliant  affair  of  Bladensburg,  where  Major-Gen- 
eral  Ross  so  greatly  distinguished  himself,  and  acquired 
the  right  of  taking  the  name  of  Ross  of  Bladensburg. 
The  British   force   captured   Washington,   and   retired 


RELATIONS  WITH  ADMIRAL  COCKBURN    69 

unmolested,  after  destroying  the  Government  stores. 
Cockburn  was  the  Hfe  and  soul  of  this  expedition,  and 
Ross  of  Bladensburg,  in  reporting  its  success,  generously 
recognized  the  Admiral's  services.  Lie  was  with  Ross 
when  that  gallant  officer  received  his  death- wound, 
during  the  advance  on  Baltimore.  In  1815  he  was 
ordered  to  hoist  his  flag  on  the  Northumberland,  and 
to  convey  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena.  Having  landed  his 
prisoner,  he  remained  on  the  island  as  Governor  pending 
the  arrival  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  and  found  the  position 
as  irksome  as  his  successor  afterwards  found  it,  owing 
to  the  imperative  necessity  of  unceasing  vigilance  in 
watching  over  his  cunning  and  unscrupulous  charge. 
He  was  relieved  in  1816,  and  arrived  in  England  on  the 
1st  of  August.  The  dignity  of  G.C.B.  was  conferred  upon 
him  in  1818  ;  he  became  Vice-Admiral  in  1819,  and  was 
appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  North  American 
and  West  Indian  station  in  1832,  having  in  the  interval 
been  unemployed.  His  return  to  England  in  1836 
saw  the  close  of  his  active  career  at  sea,  but  he  w^as 
created  Admiral  of  the  Fleet  in  1851.  He  was  First 
Naval  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  1841-6,  and  at  different 
times  had  represented  three  several  constituencies  in 
Parhament,  besides  having  been  made  a  Privy  Councillor 
in  1827.  In  1852  he  succeeded  to  the  baronetcy,  and 
died  in  1853,  leaving  only  one  daughter.  In  default 
of  male  issue,  the  title  passed  to  his  brother  WilHam, 
Dean  of  York. 


70   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

It  will  be  seen  that  Cockburn  was  as  distinguished 
as  a  naval  officer  as  we  shall  presently  show  Lowe  to 
have  been  in  the  sister  service,  and  it  is  significant  that 
Napoleon  vented  his  spleen  on  both,,  which  shows  clearly 
enough  where  the  fault  lay. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  St,  Helena  the  Emperor 
was  at  loggerheads  with  the  Admiral.  Besides  the 
grievance  of  being  attended  while  on  horseback,  com- 
plaint was  made  against  the  posting  of  sentries  under  his 
windows,  and  at  the  doors.  Free  communication  with 
the  residents  on  the  island  was  discountenanced  on  the 
ground  that  the  Emperor  should  not  be  harassed  by 
undesired  attentions.  Napoleon,  extremely  irritated 
by  these  restrictions,  instructed  de  Montholon  to 
embody  his  complaints  in  a  letter  to  the  Admiral. 
The  reply  was  not  at  all  calculated  to  improve  the 
relations  between  guardian  and  prisoner :  it  was  to  the 
effect  that  there  was  no  such  person  as  an  Emperor 
recognized  in  St.  Helena  ;  and  that  the  justice  and 
moderation  of  the  British  Government  with  regard  to 
the  exiles  would  be  the  admiration  of  future  ages. 
This  reply,  sent  by  Dr.  O'Meara,  was  supplemented  by 
a  verbal  inquiry  as  to  whether  the  Emperor  desired  to 
be  supphed  with  the  hbels  and  scurrilous  anonymous 
letters  which  the  Admiral  had  received  on  his  behalf. 

1  On  the  13th  of  March,  1816,  the  "  Grand  Marechal  " 
wrote  to  Cockburn,  by  Napoleon's  instructions,  to  ask 
^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,   vol.   i.  part  2,  p.   338. 


RELATIONS  WITH  ADMIRAL  COCKBURN    71 

whether  a  letter  he  proposed   to  indite  to  the  Prince 
Regent  would  be  forwarded.    After  commencing  with 
a  repetition  of  the  formula  that  no  such  person  as  an 
Emperor  was  knowTi  in  St.  Helena,  the  Admiral  repUed 
that  the  letter  to  the  Prince  would  certainly  be  trans- 
mitted, but  in  accordance  with  the  orders  regulating 
correspondence,  only  on  condition  that  it  was  left  open. 
The  Emperor  contended  that  this  particular  communica- 
tion was  not  on  all-fours  with  the  ordinary  correspon- 
dence of  himself  and  his  suite,  and  bitterly  resented  the 
proviso    as   a   personal   affront.    The   episode  greatly 
widened  the  breach  which  already  existed  between  him- 
self and  Cockburn,  and  matters  were  not  improved  by 
Bertrand's  rejoinder  that  the  Admiral  had  either  ex- 
ceeded  or  misinterpreted   his   instructions ;    that   his 
answer  was  therefore  looked  upon  as  a  dehberate  per- 
sonal insult,   and   that   the   Emperor  considered   the 
condition  beneath  his  dignity  and  that  of  the  Prince 
Regent  to  accept,  and  would  therefore  abandon  the  idea 
of  writing.    The  Admiral,  however,  had  neither  exceeded 
nor   misinterpreted    his    instructions — he    had    merely 
fulfilled  them.    Lord  Bathurst's  despatch  is  quite  clear 
as  to  this : — "  Whatever  he  (Napoleon)  or  they  (the  suite) 
think  fit  to  address,  either  directly  to  the  Prince  Regent, 
or  to  me  or  to  any  member  of  His  Majesty's  Government, 
your  Excellency  is  aware  must  be  transmitted  home 
provided  it  has  been  previously  suhmitted  to  your  perusal. 
In  this  particular  you  are  left  without  any  discretion. 


72   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Your  knowledge  of  the  contents  affords  you  an  oppor- 
tunity of  immediately  vindicating  yourself  if  the  letter 
should  contain  any  charges  against  you,  and  assuring 
that  whatever  complaints  they  may  make  must  be 
laid  before  the  Prince  Regent." 

Thenceforth  the  Emperor  and  the  Admiral  saw  Uttle 
of  each  other,  and  Cockburn  must  have  felt  inexpressibly 
relieved  when  the  time  drew  near  for  the  new  Governor's 
appearance.  The  duty  of  acting  as  custodian  of  Napo- 
leon was  a  highly  responsible  and  very  unpleasant  one, 
and  to  a  sailor  it  must  have  been  exceptionally  distasteful. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  1816,  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  arrived, 
and  as  this  brings  us  to  the  main  epoch  of  our  narrative, 
we  will,  before  entering  upon  it,  deal  with  what  remains 
of  Cockburn's  connection  with  Napoleon. 

^He  accompanied  the  new  Governor  on  his  first 
visit  to  Longwood,  which  took  place  on  the  16th  of 
April.  The  Emperor  refused  to  receive  him,  pleading 
illness,  and  it  was  not  until  next  day  that  the  interview 
took  place.  By  a  stupid  and  maHcious  blunder  of  the 
valet,  when  the  Admiral  was  about  to  follow  Lowe  into 
the  reception-room,  the  door  was  shut  in  his  face,  and, 
naturally  disconcerted,  he  retired  into  the  window-recess. 
2  The  Emperor,  on  being  informed  of  the  contretemps, 
denied  that  it  had  happened  with  his  knowledge,  but 
none  the  less  manifested  great  delight  that  it  should 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Hilene,  vol.  ii.  p.  45,  etc. 
2  Ibid.  p.  54. 


RELATIONS  WITH  ADMIRAL  COCKBURN  73 

have  occurred,  and  warmly  commended  the  valet  for 
his  action.  He  added  that  it  was  fortunate  for  the 
Admiral  that  he  had  thus  been  shut  out,  for  he  had 
intended  to  have  charged  him  before  all  his  compatriots 
with  having  degraded  his  Government,  his  Nation  and 
his  Sovereign  before  one  of  the  oldest  soldiers  in  Europe. 
He  would  have  accused  the  Admiral  of  having  landed 
him  at  St.  Helena  like  a  convict  at  Botany  Bay,  and 
would  have  told  him  that,  as  a  true  man  of  honour,  he, 
the  Emperor,  had  become  more  worthy  of  veneration 
on  this  rock  than  when  seated  on  his  throne  or  sur- 
rounded by  his  armies — a  piece  of  gasconading  which 
at  once  indicates  the  colossal  vanity  of  the  speaker  and 
his  deep  hatred  of  the  Admiral. 

1  It  will  be  as  well  to  give  Sir  Hudson's  own  account  of 
this  first  interview,  as  it  is,  of  course,  more  complete  and 
reliable  than  that  given  by  Las  Cases.  As  to  the  subse- 
quent interviews  between  the  Governor  and  Napoleon, 
it  will  be  sufficient  to  describe  them  in  the  words  of  the 
Emperor  himself,  as  recorded  by  Las  Cases.  Such 
evidence  may  be  accepted  as  placing  the  conduct  of  the 
Governor  in  the  very  worst  hght,  and  that  of  Napoleon 
in  the  best,  and  if  it  triumphantly  vindicates  Sir  Hud- 
son, as  we  submit  it  does,  then  his  acquittal  of  the 
charges  brought  against  him  follows  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

The   Governor   was   received   by   Bertrand   in   the 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  139,  etc. 


74   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Emperor's  dining-room,  which  served  as  antechamber, 
and  was  instantly  after  asked  into  an  inner  room,  where 
he  found  Napoleon  standing  with  his  hat  in  his  hand. 
As  he  remained  silent,  Sir  Hudson  said,  "  I  am  come, 
sir,  to  present  my  respects  to  you."  "  You  speak 
French,  sir,  I  perceive,"  observed  the  Emperor,  "  but  I 
understand  that  you  also  speak  ItaUan.  You  once 
commanded  a  regiment  of  Corsicans."  The  Governor 
repUed  that  both  languages  were  alike  to  him.  "  We 
will  speak,  then,  in  Italian,"  returned  the  other ;  and 
at  once  commenced  a  conversation  which  lasted  about 
half  an  hour.  Napoleon  asked  the  Governor  where  he 
had  served,  and  how  he  liked  the  Corsicans.  "  They 
carry  the  stiletto  ;  are  they  not  a  bad  people  ?  "  he 
observed,  looking  at  Lowe  very  significantly  for  an 
answer.  The  Governor  repUed  that  they  did  not  carry 
the  stiletto,  having  abandoned  the  custom  in  the 
British  service  ;  they  had  always  conducted  themselves 
with  propriety,  and  he  was  very  well  satisfied  with  them. 
Napoleon  then  asked  him  if  he  had  not  been  in  Egypt 
with  them,  and  on  the  Governor  replying  in  the  affirma- 
tive, entered  into  a  long  discussion  respecting  that 
country,  saying  that  Menou  was  a  weak  man,  and  that 
if  Kleber  had  been  there  the  British  would  have  been 
all  made  prisoners.  He  then  passed  in  review  all  the 
British  operations  in  Egypt,  showing  he  was  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  them,  and  finished  with  the  remark, 
"  In  war  the  game  is  always  with  him  who  commits  the 


RELATIONS  WITH  ADMIRAL  COCKBURN     75 

fewest  blunders."  He  asked  Lowe  if  he  was  married  ; 
and  how  he  liked  St.  Helena.  The  Governor  repUed 
that  he  had  not  been  long  enough  in  the  island  to  form 
an  opinion.  Napoleon  then  asked  him  how  many  years 
he  had  been  in  the  service,  to  which  Lowe  rephed 
twenty-eight.  "  Then,"  observed  the  Emperor,  "  I 
am  an  older  soldier  than  you."  "  Of  whom  history," 
gracefully  responded  the  Governor,  "  will  make  mention 
in  a  very  difierent  manner."  Napoleon  smiled,  but  said 
nothing. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Sir  Hudson  laid  himself  out  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  exile,  who,  on  his  side,  said  and  did 
nothing  of  a  hostile  character.  It  would  have  been 
well  had  the  Emperor  maintained  this  attitude,  but 
unhappily  his  behaviour  at  subsequent  interviews 
was  in  painful  contrast  to  his  urbane  speech  and  digni- 
fied deportment  on  this  occasion. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  describe  the  relations  which 
existed  between  Cockbum  and  Napoleon  in  order  to 
show  that,  as  was  afterwards  admitted  by  Montholon 
and  Gourgaud,  whoever  had  been  in  command  at  St. 
Helena  must  inevitably  have  incurred  the  Emperor's 
hatred.  The  Napoleonic  myth  is  two-sided  ;  it  involves 
a  bUnd  and  credulous  beHef  in  the  idol,  and  a  mahgriant 
determination  to  libel  and  malign  any  who  came  athwart 
his  path.  He  himself  pursued  this  plan  of  calumny 
against  his  opponents.  Moreau,  Pichegru,  Bourrienne — 
all  in  fact  who  incurred   his   animosity,  were  traduced 


76   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

by  him  or  his  creatures.  But  the  Napoleonic  fanatics 
have  concentrated  all  their  venom  upon  the  devoted 
head  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe.  It  is  time  that  a  protest 
should  be  uttered  against  this  monstrous  injustice, 
and  that  the  character  should  be  vindicated  of  a  dis- 
tinguished and  gallant  officer,  who,  in  circumstances  of 
great  difficulty  and  responsibility,  faithfully  performed 
the  duty  committed  to  his  charge. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   NEW  GOVERNOR 

1  T  lEUTENANT-GENERAL  SIR  HUDSON  LOWE 

was  born  on  the  28th  of  July,  1769,  the  same  year 
in  which  his  captive  first  saw  the  fight,  and  was  conse- 
quently in  his  forty-eighth  year  when  he  assumed 
the  governorship  of  St.  Helena,  He  was  the  son  of 
Hudson  Lowe,  an  army  surgeon,  and  his  wife,  the 
daughter  of  J.  Morgan,  of  Galway.  He  joined  the  East 
Devon  Militia  at  an  early  age,  and  served  as  a  volunteer 
with  the  50th  Foot  at  Gibraltar  in  1785-6  ;  was  gazetted 
ensign  in  that  regiment  on  the  25th  of  September,  1787, 
and  passed  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant  and  captain, 
reaching  the  latter  grade  on  the  25th  of  September,  1795. 
After  doing  service  at  Gibraltar,  he  travelled  through 
Italy,  acquiring  an  intimate  knowledge  of  French  and 
Italian  ;  and,  rejoining  his  regiment  at  Gibraltar  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  was  with  it  at  Toulon  and  in 
Corsica,  taking  part  in  the  sieges  of  Bastia  and  Calvi. 
He  was  afterwards  for  two  years  in  garrison  at  Ajaccio, 
and  thence  went  to  Elba,  where  he  was  deputy  judge- 
^  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 
77 


78   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

advocate.  His  next  move  was  to  Portugal,  where  he 
remained  for  two  years,  and  acquired  proficiency  in  the 
language,  having  previously  obtained  a  good  knowledge 
of  Spanish.  From  Lisbon  he  went  to  Minorca,  where  he 
was  made  one  of  the  inspectors  of  foreign  corps,  and 
put  in  command  of  two  hundred  Corsican  emigrants, 
styled  the  Corsican  Rangers.  His  task  in  training  these 
wild  men  was  difficult,  but  he  succeeded  in  drilUng 
them  into  a  high  state  of  efficiency.  Lowe  commanded 
the  corps  in  Egypt  in  1801  at  the  landing,  and  in  the 
operations  before  Alexandria  and  the  advance  on  Cairo, 
and  repeatedly  won  the  approval  of  Sir  John  Moore, 
who  remarked  on  one  occasion,  "  When  Lowe's 
at  the  outposts  I'm  sure  of  a  good  night."  For  his 
services  in  Egypt  he  received  the  Turkish  gold  medal. 
At  the  peace  of  Amiens  the  Corsican  Rangers  were  dis- 
banded, and  Lowe  went  on  half-pay;  but  an  officer 
with  such  a  record  could  not  long  be  dispensed  with, 
and  we  accordingly  find  him  shortly  afterwards 
appointed  Major  in  the  7th  Royal  Fusiliers. 

In  1803  Lowe,  on  the  recommendation  of  Sir  John 
Moore,  was  appointed  one  of  the  new  permanent  assist- 
ants in  the  quartermaster-general's  department  at 
Plymouth,  whence,  in  July,  he  was  despatched  to 
Portugal  on  a  miUtary  mission.  He  inspected  the 
troops  and  defences  on  the  north  and  north-eastern 
frontiers,  and  reported  the  practicabiUty  of  defending 
the  country  with  a  mixed  British  and  Portuguese  force, 


THE  NEW  GOVERNOR  79 

thus  preparing  the  way  for  Wellington's  subsequent 
operations,  and  contributing  to  the  success  of  the 
Peninsular  War,  destined  afterwards  to  begin  the  down- 
fall of  his  future  prisoner.  We  next  find  him  at  Malta, 
whither  he  was  sent  to  revive  his  corps  of  Corsican 
Rangers  on  a  larger  scale,  of  which  he  was  appointed 
Lieutenant-Colonel  commandant.  He  was  sent  on  a 
mission  to  Sardinia,  and  by  his  report  on  the  state  of  the 
island  saved  a  proposed  subsidy.  He  next  went  with 
his  corps  to  Naples,  under  Sir  James  Craig,  in  1805, 
and  commanded  the  advance  during  the  movement 
from  Castellamare  towards  the  Abruzzi.  When  the 
British  retired  to  Sicily,  Lowe  was  detached  to  Capri  with 
part  of  his  corps.  The  rest  proceeded  to  Calabria  and 
did  good  service  at  Maida,  a  battle  which,  though  the 
numbers  engaged  on  each  side  were  small,  is  important 
as  the  first  in  which  the  French  broke  and  fled  before 
British  bayonets.  The  Corsican  Rangers  were  then 
reunited  under  Lowe  at  Capri,  where,  on  his  own  re- 
sponsibiUty,  he  humanely  appealed  to  Berthier,  chief 
of  the  stafi  of  the  army  of  Naples,  against  the  frequent 
French  mihtary  executions  of  Calabrian  refugees. 
From  June,  1806,  to  October,  1808,  he  occupied  Capri, 
when,  after  bravely  sustaining  a  siege  of  thirteen  days, 
he  was  obliged  to  consent  to  an  honourable  surrender 
of  the  island  to  ^General  Lamarque,  marching  out  with 
the  survivors  of  the  garrison,  and  the  arms  and  baggage, 
Lowe's  conduct  appears  to  have  been  fully  approved  by 


80   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

officers  well  acquainted  with  the  circumstances.  Lowe 
afterwards  held  important  commands  in  Naples,  and 
the  Ionian  Islands,  where  he  was  second  in  command, 
and  was  entrusted  with  the  provisional  government  of 
Cephalonia,  Ithaca  and  Santa  Maura,  which  he  framed 
and  administered  without  remuneration  for  two  years. 
He  addressed  a  general  report  on  the  Ionian  Islands  to 
the  Colonial  Office,  and,  on  leaving,  the  inhabitants 
presented  him  with  a  sword  of  honour. 

After  being  promoted  Colonel  of  the  Royal  Corsican 
Rangers,  he  returned  to  England  in  1812,  never  having 
been  absent  from  his  duty  a  single  day  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  in  1793,  and  having  been  in  England 
only  six  months  during  the  whole  of  that  period. 

In  1813  Lowe  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  Sweden  to 
secure  the  adhesion  of  the  Crown  Prince  Bernadotte  to 
the  alUes,  whence  he  repaired  to  the  Czar's  head-quarters 
at  KaUsch.  He  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Bautzen, 
where  he  first  saw  Napoleon,  and  at  Wiirschen,  and 
remained  with  the  alUed  armies  until  the  armistice 
of  June,  1813.  He  was  then  sent  to  inspect  the  various 
levies  in  British  pay  in  North  Germany,  of  about  20,000 
men.  Thence  he  went  to  the  head-quarters  of  Berna- 
dotte, and  afterwards  to  those  of  Bliicher,  being  present 
at  the  battles  of  Mockern  and  Leipzig,  and  accompanying 
the  pursuit  of  the  routed  French  to  the  Rhine.  After 
being  employed  on  other  duties,  he  rejoined  Bliicher  at 
Vaucouleurs,  and  was  present  with  the  Prussians  at  no 


THE  NEW  GOVERNOR  81 

less  than  thirteen  general  engagements.  The  confidence 
reposed  in  him  was  shown  by  his  being  frequently  con- 
sulted, especially  at  the  conference  at  Chatillon,  and 
he  there  strongly  advocated  the  advance  on  Paris, 
which  had  such  triumphant  results.  He  was  the  first 
officer  to  bring  to  England  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Paris, 
having  ridden  from  Paris  to  Calais  attended  only  by  a 
single  Cossack.  Lowe  was  knighted,  on  the  26th  of 
April,  and  raised  to  the  rank  of  Major-General  on  the 
4th  of  June,  1814.  He  also  received  the  Russian 
Cross  of  St.  George,  and  the  Prussian  order  of  miUtary 
merit.  On  the  allies  withdrawing  from  France,  he  was 
made  Quartermaster-General  of  the  army  in  the  Low 
Countries,  under  the  Prince  of  Orange,  On  the  escape 
of  Napoleon  from  Elba,  Lowe,  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Prince,  urged  the  Prussian  commanders  to  concentrate 
on  the  Meuse,  to  co-operate  in  the  defence  of  Belgium. 
When  Wellington  took  command  of  the  Anglo-Belgian 
army,  Lowe  remained  for  a  few  weeks  under  him  as  his 
quartermaster-general,  but  was  then  appointed  to 
command  the  troops  at  Genoa.  In  July,  1815,  he 
occupied  Marseilles,  and  marching  on  Toulon,  drove  out 
General  Brune,  and  compelled  the  fortress  to  hoist  the 
Bourbon  flag. 

It  was  while  at  Marseilles  that  Lowe  received  the 
intimation  that  he  would  have  the  custody  of  Napoleon, 
then  on  board  the  BelleropJion.  On  leaving  Mar- 
seilles, Sir  Hudson  was  presented  by  the  inhabitants  with 

F 


82       THE  REAL  JVIARTYR  OF  ST.   HELENA 

a  silver  urn  as  a  token  of  gratitude  for  his  having  saved 
the  city  from  pillage — ^the  second  time  in  his  hfe  that  a 
grateful  population  had  so  distinguished  him.  He  was 
appointed  Governor  of  St.  Helena  by  the  Court  of 
Directors  of  the  East  India  Company  at  a  salary  of 
£12,000  a  year.  His  instructions  were  to  permit  every 
indulgence  to  Napoleon  compatible  with  the  entire  security 
of  his  person.  The  new  Governor  received  the  local 
rank  of  Lieutenant-General,  and  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1816,  was  made  K.C.B,,  and  sailed  for  the  island  in 
the  middle  of  that  month,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
whom  he  had  recently  married,  his  stepdaughters  and 
a  numerous  staff,  and  arrived,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the 
14th  of  April. 

We  have  now  brought  this  biographical  sketch  down 
to  the  date  upon  which  he  first  came  in  personal  contact 
with  Napoleon,  and  have  now  only  to  deal  with  the 
relations  which  existed  between  him  and  his  prisoner. 
It  may  be  as  well,  however,  to  give  a  brief  resume  of  his 
subsequent  career. 

On  the  Emperor's  death  (5th  of  May,  1821),  Lowe 
quitted  St.  Helena.  For  the  third  time  he  was  honoured 
with  an  address  from  those  over  whom  he  had  been 
placed.  In  this  document  the  inhabitants  testified  to 
the  justice  and  moderation  of  his  rule,  and  the  confidence 
felt  in  him,  as  evinced  by  the  unanimous  acceptance  of 
his  measures  for  the  abohtion  of  slavery  (-without 
compensation),  which  took  effect  from  Christmas  Day 


THE  NEW  GOVERNOR  83 

1818,  and  his  services  in  this  regard  were  very  warmly- 
acknowledged  by  Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  was  cordially  received  by  the 
King,  and  Lord  Bathurst,  by  command,  expressed  appro- 
bation of  his  conduct  at  St.  Helena,  He  received  the 
first  vacant  colonelcy,  that  of  the  93rd  Highlanders,  on 
the  4th  of  June,  1822. 

Then  the  flood-gates  of  Hbel  and  scurrility  were 
opened  upon  him.  Moore  defamed  him  in  verse  and 
O'Meara,  Napoleon's  medical  attendant,  in  prose. 
^The  Quarterly  Review  exposed  O'Meara's  slanders 
and  proved  him  to  have  been  guilty  of  the  grossest 
contradictions.  Party  poHtics  in  England  at  that 
time  ran  very  high,  and  the  Whig  Opposition  made  use 
of  the  occasion  to  assail  the  Tories,  under  cover  of  the 
man  who  had,  as  they  alleged,  persecuted  their  idol. 
For  strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us.  Napoleon  had  become 
the  figure-head  of  European  Liberalism,  after  having 
spent  his  public  life  in  suppressing  hberty ;  and  that 
"  Napoleonic  Legend  "  arose,  which  exists  with  weed- 
like pertinacity  even  to  this  day,  and  has  been  mainly 
responsible  for  one  of  the  bloodiest  wars  of  modern 
times,  which  cost  France  two  of  her  fairest  provinces. 
The  Tory  Ministry  had  sent  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena, 
so  the  Whigs  took  him  under  their  protection,  and  made 
him  the  stalking  horse  for  their  factious  and  unpatriotic 
attacks  on  their  pohtical  opponents.    Lowe  brought  an 

*  Quarterly  Eeview,  No.  65,  October,  1822,  art.  xiii. 


84   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

action  against  O'Meara,  which  failed  on  a  technicality. 
He  was  badly  treated  by  the  Government  which  he  had 
served  so  well,  and  his  resources  were  much  crippled 
by  his  attempts  at  legal  redress.  At  last,  in  1832, 
Toryism  received  a  smashing  blow  in  the  great  Reform 
Bill.  Lowe's  inveterate  enemies,  the  Whigs,  came  into 
power,  and  the  rest  of  his  life  was  embittered  by  fruitless 
efforts  to  obtain  justice.  These  vexations  were  miti- 
gated by  his  appointment  to  the  colonelcy  of  his  old 
regiment,  the  50th,  and  his  advancement  to  the  highest 
class  of  the  Prussian  Order  of  the  Red  Eagle,  which  was 
accompanied  by  a  highly  flattering  letter  from  von 
Billow,  recalUng  his  "  signal  services  to  the  common 
cause  in  the  glorious  campaigns  of  1813-14."  He  was 
also  made  a  G.C.M.G. 

Lowe  died  of  paralysis  in  comparative  poverty,  on  the 
10th  of  January,  1844,  a  melancholy  example  of  merit 
ill-requited,  of  party  hate,  and  of  cruel  and  relentless 
persecution. 

Against  the  malignant  slanders  of  Lowe  by  Napoleonic 
partisans  it  is  well  to  set  the  testimony  of  impartial 
and  disinterested  observers.  Amongst  these  is  Mr. 
Walter  Henry,  the  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  66th  Regi- 
ment, who  was  stationed  at  St.  Helena  from  1817  to 
1821,  and  thus  had  ample  opportunity  of  forming  a  just 
opinion  of  Sir  Hudson's  character.  In  his  Events  of  a 
Military  Life,  Henry  says  :  ^  "  From  first  impressions  I 

^  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  p.  9. 


THE  NEW  GOVERNOR  85 

entertained  an  opinion  of  liim  far  from  favourable  ;  if, 
therefore,  notwithstanding  this  prepossession,  my  testi- 
mony should  incUne  to  the  other  side,  I  can  truly  state 
that  the  change  took  place  from  the  weight  of  evidence, 
and  in  consequence  of  what  came  under  my  own  observa- 
tion in  St.  Helena." 

In  the  same  work  Henry  quotes  the  following  from  a 
letter  received  by  him  from  a  brother  officer  :  ^"  Few 
persons,  if  any,  are  better  acquainted  with  Sir  Hudson 
Lowe  than  myself.  When  he  was  Quartermaster- 
General  in  the  Netherlands  in  1814-15,  I  was  Deputy 
Assistant  in  the  department,  when  I  was  with  him  every 
day.  I  also  saw  him  when  certain  circumstances  gave 
him  much  annoyance,  but  cannot  recollect  any  single 
instance  of  his  brealdng  out  into  any  unseemly  bursts 
of  anger,  or  showing  real  uncourteousness.  He  was 
very  much  liked  by  all  who  served  under  him  ;  being  at 
all  times  kind,  considerate,  generous  and  hospitable." 

After  attributing  to  the  calumnies  of  O'Meara  a 
mistaken  remark  which  he  had  made  as  to  the  Governor's 
temper,  and  which  had  been  noted  by  his  correspondent, 
Henry  adds  :  "  The  author  (that  is  himself)  can  testify 
that  during  four  years'  acquaintance  with  Sir  Hudson 
Lowe,  in  the  course  of  which  he  was  occasionally  pro- 
fessionally resident  in  his  house,  the  demeanour  of  this 
much-injured  man  was  always  gentlemanly  and  courte- 
ous, both  to  himself  and  all  around  him." 
1  Ibid.  pp.  59,  60. 


86    THE]REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

By  her  marriage  with  her  first  husband,  Lady  Lowe 
had  two  daughters,  and  by  Sir  Hudson  two  sons  and  a 
daughter,  all  three  born  in  St.  Helena.  His  younger 
son,  Edward  WilUam  Howe  de  Lancy,  followed  the 
career  of  his  gallant  and  distinguished  father,  and 
rose  to  the  rank  of  Major-General.  He  fought  in  the 
Sikh  War  of  1848-9,  and  afterwards  showed  conspicuous 
heroism  during  the  defence  of  the  Lucknow  Residency 
in  1857,  in  the  course  of  which  he  was  severely  wounded. 
In  the  consequent  operations  against  the  Sepoy  mutin- 
eers he  more  than  sustained  his  reputation  as  an  able 
and  gallant  o£&cer,  and  was  thanked  in  despatches, 
besides  being  made  a  C.B. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

"  LOOK  HERE  UPON  THIS  PICTURE,  AND  ON  THIS  " 

QUCH  was  the  man  upon  whom  a  torrent  of  the  foulest 
'^  calumny  has  been  poured  out  by  those  who  have 
fallen  down  and  worshipped  at  the  shrine  of  the  Imperial 
Moloch.  To  the  discredit  of  our  name,  Englishmen 
have  been  among  the  most  virulent  of  his  traducers.  We 
are  asked  to  beheve  that  a  man  who  distinguished  him- 
self throughout  his  whole  career  as  a  brave  and  gallant 
officer  ;  who  protested  in  the  name  of  humanity  against 
the  atrocious  butcheries  committed  by  the  French  in 
Calabria ;  who  was  thrice  presented  with  addresses  of 
gratitude  by  communities  committed  to  his  charge,  and 
who  was  knighted  by  his  grateful  Sovereign  for  eminent 
services — ^that  this  man,  on  arriving  at  St.  Helena, 
became  suddenly  divested  of  all  the  fine  attributes 
which  had  previously  distinguished  him,  and  was 
transformed,  as  if  by  the  wave  of  a  mahgnant  magician's 
wand,  into  an  incarnation  of  brutaUty ;  a  fiend  whose 
sole  delight  was  to  torment  the  defenceless  captive  he 
held  at  his  mercy,  and  who  employed  his  talents  in 
devising  fresh  insults  and  tortures  for  his  victim.     On 

87 


88   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

the  face  of  it  the  thing  is  incredible.  We  shall  presently 
show  that  it  was  absolutely  untrue  in  fact,  and  we  shall 
call  as  a  witness,  not  an  enemy  of  Napoleon,  but  one  of 
his  most  blind  and  credulous  admirers  ;  no  other,  in  fact, 
than  the  Count  de  Las  Cases  himself.  This  is  the 
most  powerful  evidence  of  all,  for,  as  Burke  said, 
^  "  History  will  examine  with  great  strictness  of  scrutiny 
whatever  appears  from  a  writer  in  favour  of  his  own 
cause.  On  the  other  hand,  whatever  escapes  him, 
and  makes  against  that  cause,  comes  with  the  greatest 
weight." 

We  shall  prove  out  of  the  mouth  of  this  witness  that 
the  provocations  and  insults  came  from  the  exile  himself ; 
that  Lowe  was  the  "  Martyr  of  St.  Helena  "  and  not 
Napoleon ;  that  there  was  a  dehberate  conspiracy, 
begun  imder  Admiral  Cockburn  and  continaed  with 
increased  mahgnancy  under  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  to  delude 
the  world  into  the  belief  that  having  commenced  by 
treacherously  entrapping  Napoleon  into  a  surrender, 
England  consummated  her  infamy  by  selecting  as  her 
instrument  a  base,  cowardly  and  callous  bully,  who 
revelled  in  the  opportunity  afforded  him  to  gratify  the 
vile  instincts  of  his  depraved  nature. 

The  Staff  Officer  constantly  on  duty  about  Longwood, 
after  speaking  of  the  reliance  placed  by  the  exiles  on 
party  sympathy  in  England,  says  that  the  pohcy  of 

^  Preface  to  M.  Brissofs  Address  to  his  Constituents.  Burke's 
Works.  Ed.  1803,  vol.  vii.  p.  298. 


"LOOK  HERB  UPON  TfflS  PICTUKE "      89 

Longwood — heartily  and  assiduously  carried  out  by 
Napoleon's  adherents — was  to  pour  into  England 
pamphlets  and  letters,  complaining  of  unnecessary 
restrictions,  insults  from  the  Governor,  scarcity  of 
provisions,  miserable  accommodation,  insalubrity  of 
climate,  and  a  host  of  other  grievances,  but  chiefly 
levelled  at  the  Governor,  as  the  head  and  front  of  all 
that  was  amiss. 

The  evidence  of  this  settled  purpose  is  not,  however, 
limited  to  English  witnesses.  Lamartine,  in  his  History 
of  the  Restoration  of  Monarchy  in  France,  says  :  ^  "  On 
reading  attentively  the  correspondence  and  notes 
exchanged,  under  every  pretext,  between  the  adherents 
of  Napoleon  and  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  we  are  astonished  at 
the  insults,  the  provocations,  and  the  invectives  with 
which  the  captive  and  his  friends  outraged  the  Governor 
at  every  turn.  .  .  .  The  desire  of  provoking  insults  by 
insults,  then  to  represent  those  insults  as  crimes  to  the 
indignation  of  the  Continent,  and  to  make  of  Sir  Hudson 
Lowe  the  Pilate  of  this  Napoleonic  calvary,  is  evident 
in  all  these  notes." 

The  absurdity  of  the  fiction  of  Napoleon's  wrongs  and 
"  martyrdom  "  is  exposed  by  the  facts  of  his  career, 
apart  from  any  other  evidence.  We  are  seriously  asked 
to  beheve  that  he  was  the  victim  of  injustice  and  cruelty 

1  History  of  the  Restoration  of  Monarchy  in  France,  A.  de 
Lamai'tine,  Book  38,  sec.  37,  p.  550.  London :  Vizetelly  &  Co., 
1852. 


90      THE  REAL  JVIARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

on  the  part  of  the  Allied  Powers.  That  throughout 
his  whole  pubUc  Ufe  he  had  been  longing  for  peace,  and 
had  only  been  driven  into  war,  much  against  his  will, 
by  their  diabolical  machinations.  That  he  had  ab- 
dicated finally  from  the  purest  patriotic  motives,  and 
had  voluntarily  abandoned  public  Hfe  from  the  lofty 
desire  to  sacrifice  himself  to  the  hatred  of  his  enemies 
for  the  sake  of  France ;  and  that  he  had  come  to  St. 
Helena  in  a  spirit  of  pious  and  patriotic  resignation, 
prepared  to  bow  with  dignity  to  the  inexorable  decree 
of  Fate,  and  to  show  that  he  was  "  the  most  docile  and 
tranquil  man  in  the  world." 

Let  us  see  how  the  facts  of  Napoleon's  career  fit  in 
with  this  pretty  fairy  tale. 

He  commenced  as  a  Jacobin,  the  associate  of  Robes- 
pierre's brother,  and  an  ally  of  the  Terrorists.  When 
Thermidor  settled  that  gang  of  miscreants,  he  ruthlessly 
suppressed  the  rising  of  the  Sections  of  Paris  on  the  day  of 
Vendemiaire  and  thereby  sprang  into  sudden  notoriety. 
His  advancement  was  furthered  by  his  marriage  with 
Josephine  Beauharnais,  who  was  requited  by  a  cruel  and 
callous  divorce  when  she  was  no  longer  of  use  to  him. 
He  upset  the  Directory  by  the  coup  d'etat  of  Brumaire, 
which  would  have  been  a  ghastly  failure  but  for  the  ready 
wit  of  his  brother  Lucien.  ^  He  showed  his  gratitude 
to  that  brother  by  a  long  and  cruel  persecution,  solely 
for  the  reason  that  Lucien,  to  his  eternal  honour, 
^  Napoleon's  Brothers,  A.  H.  Atteridge,  p.  100,  etc. 


"LOOK  HERE  UPON  THIS  PICTURE"      91 

absolutely  refused  to  divorce  his  beautiful,  accomplished 
and  devoted  wife  a  la  Josephine  in  order  that  he  might 
ally  himself  with  some  gross  German  princess.  *  He 
treated  another  of  his  brothers,  Louis,  with  the  grossest 
indignity  simply  because,  as  King  of  Holland,  he  refused 
to  ruin  the  Dutch  people  to  gratify  the  despot's  hate  of 
England.  He  made  war  Hke  a  Calabrian  brigand,  and 
turned  Paris  into  a  receiving-house  for  the  stolen  goods 
of  Europe.  His  proclamation  to  the  army  of  Italy 
gives  the  key  to  his  method  of  warfare.    Here  it  is. 

^  "  Soldiers !  You  are  naked  and  hungry ;  your 
pay  is  in  arrear  and  the  military  chest  is  empty.  Your 
patience  and  the  courage  you  display  amidst  these 
mountains  are  admirable,  but  they  bring  you  no  glory. 
I  am  about  to  lead  you  into  the  most  fertile  plains  in 
the  world.  Rich  provinces,  great  cities,  will  be  in  your 
power,  and  there  you  will  possess  wealth,  honour  and 
glory.     Soldiers  of  Italy  !    Will  your  courage  fail  you  ?  " 

He  seized  and  held  captive  the  Head  of  the  Cathohc 
Church,  and  then  complained  of  his  own  captivity  at  St. 
Helena.  In  defiance  of  the  most  elementary  principles 
of  international  law,  and  in  contravention  of  all  law, 
human  and  divine,  he  forcibly  abducted  the  Due  d'Eng- 
hien,  and  after  a  trial  which  was  a  mockery  of  justice, 
caused  him  to  be  barbarously  murdered  in  the  bastille  of 

1  Ibid.  p.  182,  etc. 

2  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.   199. 


92   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Vinccnncs.  He  shot  in  cold  blood  several  thousand 
prisoners  on  the  beach  at  Jaffa,  after  they  had  made  a 
conditional  surrender.  He  pursued  with  relentless 
malignity  all  who  thwarted  his  unbridled  ambition. 
He  drove  the  victor  of  Hohenlinden  into  exile,  and  there 
is  grave  suspicion  that  he  caused  Pichegru  to  be  murdered 
in  the  prison  into  which  he  had  thrust  him.  He  adopted 
a  consistent  course  of  duplicity  and  treachery  whenever 
it  suited  his  purpose  to  do  so,  and  the  most  flagrant 
example  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  his  treatment  of  Spain 
and  Portugal,  ^  The  following  letter  of  instructions 
which  he  wrote  to  Junot  in  the  latter  country  is  sufficient 
proof  of  this. 

"  To  General  Clarke,  Minister  for  War. 

FONTAINEBLEAU, 

28fA  of  October,  1807. 

"  General  Junot  is  to  listen  to  every  proposal,  but  he  is 
to  sign  nothing,  having  no  authority  to  do  so  from  the 
Department  of  Foreign  Affairs.  He  must  refer  every- 
thing to  my  Ambassador  at  Madrid,  and  must  keep 
you  exactly  informed  of  all  overtures  made  to  him. 

"  I  desire  my  troops  shall  arrive  at  Lisbon  as  soon  as 
possible,  to  seize  all  EngUsh  merchandise.  I  desire  they 
shall,  if  possible,  go  there  as  friends  in  order  to  take 
possession  of  the  Portuguese  fleet. 

^  New  Letters  of  Napoleon,  Lady  Mary  Floyd,  pp.  53—55. 


"LOOK  HEEE  UPON  THIS  PICTURE"      93 

"  The  Portuguese  Government  will  take  one  of  the 
two  following  measures. 

"  Either  (1)  on  seeing  the  French  Army  approach,  it 
will  march  forward  its  own  troops,  and  stand  on  the 
defensive.  Then  everything  falls  into  the  military 
province.  .  .  . 

"  Or  (2)  the  Portuguese  Government  will  make  up  its 
mind  to  submit,  will  declare  war  with  England,  and  will 
send  messengers  to  meet  the  Army  and  negotiate.  In 
this  case,  General  Junot  must  speak  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"  My  sovereign's  orders  are  that  I  am  not  to  delay 
one  day  in  marching  upon  Lisbon.     My  mission  is 
to  close  that  great  port  to  the  English.    I  ought 
to  use  force  against  you,  but  as  the  shedding  of 
blood  is  repugnant  to  the  noble  heart  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  and  to  the  character  of  the  French  people, 
I  have  orders — ^if  you  agree  not  to  keep  your  troops 
massed  together ;    if  you  place  them  in  positions 
where  they  cannot  cause  any  anxiety,  and  if  you 
will  receive  as  auxiliaries,  until  the  negociations 
begun  at  Paris  are  concluded — to  consent  to  that 
arrangement." 
"  By  these  means  General  Junot  may  contrive  to 
get  to  Lisbon  as  an  auxiliary.     The  date  of  his  arrival 
will  be  calculated  here  to  a  couple  of  days,  and  twenty- 
four  hours  later,  a  courier  will  be  sent  to  inform  him 
that  the  Portuguese  proposals  have  not  been  accepted, 


94   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

and  that  he  is  to  treat  the  country  as  that  of  an  enemy. 
Eight  or  ten  ships  of  war  and  those  dockyards  would  be 
an  immense  advantage  to  us.  All  General  Junot's  dis- 
course, then,  must  be  directed  to  the  execution  of  this 
great  plan.  There  is  reason  to  think  he  will  succeed,  be- 
cause it  is  not  Ukely  that  Portugal  will  dare  to  resist, . ,  , 

"  General  Junot's  operation  will  be  a  real  success, 
if  by  dint  of  prudence  and  wise  use  of  his  tongue,  he 
makes  himself  master  of  the  Portuguese  fleet.  He  must 
make  use  of  his  nomination  to  convey  the  impression 
that  he  has  been  sent  to  smooth  down  everything. 

*'  He  may  say  anything  he  pleases,  so  long  as  he  gets 
hold  of  the  Portuguese  fleet." 

Now,  we  ask  any  impartial  reader  of  the  above  to 
say  whether  in  the  whole  annals  of  cold-blooded  treachery 
and  fraud  anything  worse  has  ever  been  recorded.  It 
is  the  application  to  practical  politics  of  the  prayer  in 
The  Critic :  "  Assist  us  to  accomplish  all  our  ends,  and 
sanctify  whatever  means  we  use  to  gain  them."  There 
is  no  example  of  Indian  dupHcity  which  exceeds  in 
turpitude  the  diabohcal  plot  disclosed  in  these  "  in- 
structions." And  the  man  who  conceived  it  dared  to 
reproach  England  for  her  "  perfidy  !  " 

He  not  only  plundered  every  country  that  he  overran, 
but  perpetrated  the  most  cruel  outrages  on  the  popula- 
tions.   1  In  his  Moscow  campaign  he  lit  up  the  country 

^  Relation  Circonstanciee  de  la  Campagne  de  Russie  en  1812, 
E.  Labaume. 


"LOOK  HERE  UPON  THIS  PICTURE"      95 

with  the  flames  of  burning  villages,  and  covered  it  with 
the  mutilated  remains  of  murdered  men,  outraged 
women  and  slaughtered  children.  His  Marshals  in 
Spain  were  equal  to  himself  in  such  abominations. 
They  robbed  the  churches  of  the  sacred  vessels,  cut 
priceless  works  of  art  from  their  frames,  and  were  de- 
campmg  with  the  loot,  when  WelUngton  routed  them 
at  Vittoria  and  recovered  it. 

Here  then  are  the  two  men,  as  they  stand  at  the  bar 
of  History.  The  one  a  humane  and  gallant  ofl&cer,  of 
unblemished  reputation,  who  had  faithfully  served  his 
king  and  country  throughout  the  whole  course  of  an 
honourable  career.  The  other  a  wily,  unscrupulous 
despot,  a  sort  of  combination  of  Macchiavelli  and  Attila, 
who  had  "  waded  through  slaughter  to  a  throne,  and 
shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  mankind  " ;  whose  restless 
and  insatiable  ambition  had  plunged  Europe  into  a  sea 
of  blood  for  twenty  years  ;  who  hesitated  at  no  crime 
to  further  his  objects,  and  who,  having  hved  to  be  a 
curse  to  mankind,  fell  without  dignity,  and  ended  by 
displaying  a  Httleness  of  character  unparalleled  in  history. 


CHAPTER  IX 

"  THE  MOST  DOCILE  AND  TRACTABLE  MAN  IN  THE  WORLD" 

"I17E  have  already  seen  how  Napoleon  avowed  his 
intention  of  insulting  Admiral  Cockburn  before 
his  officers,  and  how  he  was  only  prevented  from  doing 
so  by  the  stupid  brutaUty  of  the  valet  who  slammed 
the  door  in  the  Admiral's  face ;  and  we  have  seen  also 
how  the  Emperor  applauded  the  servant's  insolence. 

His  treatment  of  the  new  Governor  was  in  keeping 
with  this  prelude.  It  disclosed  at  once  the  settled 
policy  which  had  been  agreed  upon  by  Napoleon  and 
his  entourage.  That  the  Emperor  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  hate  and  insult  whomsoever  might  be  sent  out 
to  watch  over  him,  is  made  evident  by  his  description  of 
the  Governor's  appearance.  ^ "  A  man  of  middle  height, 
slender,  thin  and  stiff,  with  red  hair  and  a  blotchy 
countenance ;  eyes  obhque,  with  averted  glance,  rarely 
looking  one  straight  in  the  face  ;  yellow  eyebrows,  thick 
and  prominent."  "  He  is  hideous,"  said  the  Emperor, 
"  his  face  is  ruffianly."  "  But  let  us  not  be  hasty,"  he 
added,  with  Pecksniffian  hypocrisy,  "  to  pronounce  an 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  59. 
96 


"  THE  MOST  DOCILE  AND  TRACTABLE  MAN  "    97 

opinion  ;  his  moral  qualities  may  contradict  his  sinister 
appearance — that  may  not  be  altogether  impossible." 

A  man  in  the  frame  of  mind  disclosed  by  this  offensive 
and  grossly  misleading  description  was  manifestly 
"spoihng  for  a  fight,"  and  it  gives  the  key  to  all  the 
troubles  that  followed. 

On  his  part,  Sir  Hudson  had  evidently  come  to  the 
island  resolved  to  do  all  in  his  power,  so  far  as  his  in- 
structions would  permit,  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  the  exiles,  and  to  make  their  banishment  as  httle 
galhng  as  possible.  ^He  took  an  early  opportunity 
of  inspecting  the  arrangements  at  Longwood,  and 
entering  Las  Cases'  rooms,  remained  in  them  a  quarter 
of  an  hour.  He  expressed  his  regret  at  the  manner  in 
which  the  exiles  were  housed  ;  their  quarters,  he  said, 
were  bivouacs  rather  than  apartments,  and  he  would 
give  immediate  orders  to  have  them  improved  as  much 
as  possible ;  adding,  poUtely,  that  he  had  brought 
with  him  between  fifteen  hundred  and  two  thousand 
French  books,  which  he  would  put  at  their  disposal  as 
soon  as  they  could  be  sorted  out.  This  is  Las  Cases' 
own  account  of  the  interview. 

2  On  the  26th  of  April,  1816,  Las  Cases  visited  Planta- 
tion House  and  paid  his  respects  to  Lady  Lowe,  whom 
he  describes  as  pretty,  and  amiable.  The  Governor, 
he  says,  showed  him  marked  civiUty  and  good-will. 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii,  part  3,  p.  92. 

2  Ibid.  p.  86,  etc. 

G 


98   THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

They  were,  Sir  Hudson  said,  really  old  friends,  although 
Las  Cases  did  not  know  it,  for  he  had  long  known  him 
through  his  "  historical  atlas,"  which  had  greatly 
delighted  him  at  a  time  when  he  little  thought  he 
should  ever  make  the  author's  acquaintance.  He 
enlarged  upon  the  praises  which  the  atlas  had  every- 
where received  ;  he  had  often  read  the  description  of 
the  battle  of  Jena  with  General  Bliicher,  when  he  had 
been  commissioner  for  England  at  Bliicher's  head- 
quarters in  the  campaign  of  1814.  He  had  always 
admired  the  spirit  of  fairness  and  moderation  which  the 
work  displayed  towards  England,  although  she  was 
an  enemy  of  France,  but  certain  passages  had  greatly 
struck  him  at  that  time  as  being  hostile  to  the  Emperor. 
He  ascribed  this  to  the  fact  that  Las  Cases  had  been 
an  emigre,  and  it  seemed  to  him  somewhat  of  a  contra- 
diction to  find  him  now  in  Napoleon's  suite. 

This  harmless  remark,  dropped  in  the  course  of  a 
desultory  chat,  is  ascribed  to  a  sinister  motive  by  Las 
Cases  on  the  ground  that  the  Governor  had  been  a 
"  chief  of  police  "  in  Italy  !  The  suggestion  is  as  false 
as  it  was  childish,  for  we  have  already  described  the 
positions  held  by  Sir  Hudson  throughout  his  distin- 
guished career,  and  that  of  "  chief  of  police,"  in  Italy 
or  anywhere  else,  was  certainly  not  one  of  them.  But 
mark  the  malignant  animosity  which  could  distort  an 
expression  of  casual  surprise  at  finding  Las  Cases  a 
voluntary  exile  in  St.  Helena,  into  an  ofiejisive  innuendo, 


"  THE  MOST  DOCILE  AND  TRACTABLE  MAN  "    99 

Is  it  not  sufficient  to  show  the  frame  of  mind  that 
pervaded  the  little  knot  of  irreconcilables  at  Longwood, 
and  made  all  attempts  to  conciliate  them  hopeless  from 
the  outset  ? 

^  "  I  could  not  help  feeling,"  Las  Cases  goes  on,  "  a 
suspicion  of  insinuations  being  impHed  in  this  conversa- 
tion ;  if  such  was  the  case,  and  the  Emperor  had  no 
doubt  on  the  matter,  things  had  been  nicely  begun  on 
his  part,  and  if  I  had  had  less  self-respect  I  might  have 
allowed  him  to  proceed  to  greater  lengths,  but  I  con- 
tented myself  with  replying  that  he  must  have  mis- 
understood the  meaning  of  the  passage  referred  to, 
which  could  not  possibly  apply  to  Napoleon,  seeing  I 
was  now  with  him  !  " 

^  Another  "  insult  "  was  soon  detected  in  the  form  of 
two  French  books  sent  by  the  Governor  for  Napoleon's 
diversion,  one  of  which  proved  to  be  a  work  by  the 
Abbe  de  Pradt  on  the  embassy  to  Warsaw,  which  is 
said  to  have  been  uncompUmentary  to  the  recipient. 
Surely  this  was  "  looking  for  trouble,"  and  watching 
for  a  grievance.  What  object  could  Sir  Hudson  have 
had  in  dehberately  affronting  his  captive,  just  after 
he  had  been  doing  his  best,  poor  man,  to  be  poUte  to 
the  follower  ?  Is  it  not  probable  that  he  sent  the  first 
book  that  happened  to  present  itself,  without  troubhng 
himself  as  to  the  contents,  or  that  he  thought  a  work 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  88, 
-  Ibid.  p.  88, 


100  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

on  an  episode  of  Napoleon's  administration  would  have 
interested  the  exile  ?  To  an  Englishman,  a  book 
criticizing  the  person  who  read  it,  would  have  been 
perused  with  perfect  equanimity,  and  Lowe  probably 
paid  the  Emperor  the  compliment  of  supposing  that  he 
was  not  as  sensitive  as  a  schoolgirl.  It  will  be  found, 
however,  that  almost  all  the  complaints  of  the  Gover- 
nor's "  brutalities "  were  equally  puerile.  The  other 
volume  was  a  collection  of  Napoleon's  proclamations 
and  bulletins,  which  ought  to  have  annoyed  him  more 
than  the  other,  seeing  they  would  remind  him  of  all 
the  falsehoods  he  had  put  in  circulation.  Strange  to 
say,  this  work  afforded  him  much  satisfaction,  and  he 
exclaimed  with  sublime  conceit,  "  And  yet  they  have 
the  audacity  to  say  that  I  did  not  know  how  to  write  !  " 
1  The  next  occurrence  Las  Cases  calls  "  'premiere  in- 
sulte."  The  Governor  called  at  Longwood  and  required 
all  the  servants  to  be  paraded  before  him,  a  highly 
necessary  proceeding  in  view  of  the  intrigues  that  were 
afterwards  found  to  be  going  on  in  the  household. 
This  very  reasonable  request  was  insolently  refused, 
de  Montholon  stating  that  it  would  only  be  comphed 
with  imder  compulsion.  Turning  to  Las  Cases  the 
Governor  remarked  that  all  who  were  about  the  Emperor 
appeared  to  have  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  cause 
disputes  and  embarrassments,  which  was  perfectly  true. 
Las  Cases  replied  with  an  impertinent  lecture  to  the 
1  Memorial  de  Ste,  Helme,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  92, 


"  THE  MOST  DOCILE  AND  TRACTABLE  MAN  "  101 

Governor  as  to  the  deportment  he  should  observe, 
adding,  Avith  unconscious  humour,  that  the  Emperor 
desired  to  show  himself  the  most  docile  and  tractable 
man  in  the  world,  but  that  nothing  should  rob  him  of  his 
self-respect,  and  that  the  consciousness  and  delicacy  of 
his  dignity  were  the  only  things  that  remained  to  him, 
and  of  which  he  could  still  claim  to  be  the  master. 
However,  these  absurd  attempts  to  ride  the  high  horse 
were  of  no  avail.  The  servants  were  duly  trotted  out. 
The  Governor  said  a  few  words  to  each,  and  then  turn- 
ing to  de  Montholon  and  Las  Cases,  remarked  :  "  For 
the  present  I  am  satisfied.  I  can  now  report  to  my 
Government  that  all  have  signed  the  required  declara- 
tion of  their  own  free  will." 

^  This  declaration  was  to  the  effect  that  all  those 
who  had  accompanied  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena  had  done 
so  voluntarily,  and  would  undertake  to  submit  them- 
selves in  advance  to  all  the  regulations  which  might 
be  deemed  necessary  to  secure  the  Emperor's  safe 
custody.  ^  Las  Cases  had  sent  in  his  declaration, 
couched  in  highly  provocative  and  offensive  terms, 
embodving  therein  all  the  fables  already  concocted  by 
his  master  as  to  the  "  perfidy  "  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, the  "  conditional  "  surrender  to  Maitland  ;  the 
interpretation  to  be  put  upon  the  impudent  letter  to 
the  Prince  Regent,  and  all  the  other  artful  misrepre- 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  65. 
2  Ibid. 


102  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

sentations  we  have  already  detailed.  He  also  managed 
to  include  a  falsehood  about  the  "  horrible  "  Island  of^ 
St.  Helena  and  its  detestable  chmate,  which,  he  asserted, 
was  prejudicial  to  the  health  of  the  Emperor  and  "  that 
of  all  Europeans,"  contrary  to  the  fact  that  St.  Helena 
is  particularly  suited  to  Europeans,  and  is  admitted  to 
be  one  of  the  most  healthy  places  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER   X 

"  DOCILITY  " — 1  LA  CORSE 

i~VrAPOLEON  had  been  sulking  indoors  for  two 
■^^  days,  when,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1816,  the 
Governor  was  met  by  Las  Cases  on  his  way  to  Long  wood. 
Sir  Hudson  inquired  how  the  captive  was,  and  the  Count 
expressed  himseH  uneasy  as  to  his  condition.  He  had 
been  shut  up  alone  all  day  and  had  seen  none  of  his 
suite. 

2  When  Las  Cases  returned  to  Longwood  at  eight 
o'clock,  the  Emperor  informed  him  that  the  Governor 
had  called,  and  proceeded  to  describe  the  interview. 
Sir  Hudson  had  been  received  in  the  Emperor's  room, 
where  Napoleon  en  deshabille  was  recUning  on  a  couch, 
from  which  he  related  afresh  "  with  the  most  perfect 
calm "  the  stale  fiction  of  his  alleged  betrayal.  He 
protested  against  the  treaty  between  the  Alhed  Powers 
wherein  he  was  dealt  with  as  a  prisoner.  He  demanded 
to  know  by  what  right  these  sovereigns  claimed  to  dis- 
pose of    him  without  his  own  consent — ^he  who  was 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  117. 
2  Ibid.  p.  118. 

103 


104  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

their  equal,  and  had  often  been  their  master.  If  he 
had  retired  to  Russia,  Alexander,  who  had  been  his 
friend,  and  with  whom  he  had  only  had  pohtical  differ- 
ences, would,  he  asserted,  at  least  have  treated  him  as  a 
monarch,  even  if  he  had  not  maintained  him  on  the 
throne.  The  Governor  had  not  denied  these  state- 
ments. If,  continued  Napoleon,  he  had  sought  an 
asylum  in  Austria,  the  Emperor  Francis,  under  pain  of 
eternal  dishonour,  could  neither  have  excluded  him 
from  his  empire,  nor  even  from  the  hospitality  of  his 
house  and  family,  of  which  Napoleon  was  a  member. 
Again,  the  Governor  had  made  no  denial  of  these  asser- 
tions. Moreover,  the  Emperor  had  said,  if  his  personal 
interests  had  weighed  Avith  him,  he  might  have  defended 
them  in  France,  sword  in  hand,  in  which  case  there 
could  be  no  doubt  that  the  Allies  would  have  conceded 
to  him  by  treaty  a  crowd  of  advantages — perhaps  even 
territory. 

He  had  not  desired  to  do  this,  however  ;  he  had 
decided  rather  to  abandon  pubhc  affairs  altogether, 
disgusted  at  seeing  tricksters  either  betraying  France, 
or  grossly  ignorant  of  her  best  interests  ;  and  the  mass 
of  the  nation's  representatives  capable  of  saving 
themselves  by  trafficking  \vith  the  country's  indepen- 
dence. In  these  circumstances  what  had  he  done  ? 
He  had  sought  an  asylum  in  a  comitry  which  was 
supposed  to  be  governed  by  law ;  amongst  a  people 
whose  greatest  enemy  he  had  been  for  twenty  years. 


"DOCILITY"— A  LA  CORSE  105 

Wb.at  had  the  EngUsh  done  on  the  other  hand  ?  Their 
acts  would  dishonour  them  in  history.  There  was 
still  an  avenging  Providence ;  sooner  or  later  they 
would  pay  the  penalty.  Ere  long  in  their  laws  and 
their  prosperity  they  would  expiate  the  crime.  The 
British  Ministry  had  clearly  shown  by  their  instruc- 
tions that  they  were  determined  to  destroy  him.  Why 
had  not  the  kings  who  had  proscribed  him  condemned 
him  openly  to  death  ?  The  one  would  have  been  as 
legal  as  the  other.  A  speedy  end  would  have  shown 
more  vigour  on  their  part  than  the  slow  death  to  which 
they  had  condemned  him.  Then,  referring  to  the  fate 
of  Murat,  he  added,  that  the  Calabrians  had  been  more 
himiane.  He  would  not,  he  proceeded,  commit  suicide ; 
he  would  consider  that  an  act  of  cowardice ;  it  was 
braver  and  more  noble  to  surmount  misfortune.  Every 
man  here  below  was  bound  to  fulfil  his  destiny  ;  but 
if  it  was  intended  to  keep  him  permanently  at  St. 
Helena,  it  would  be  a  kindness  to  kill  him,  for  there 
he  suffered  a  daily  death.  The  island  was  too  small 
for  him  who  had  been  accustomed  to  ride  ten,  fifteen  or 
twenty  leagues  every  day.  The  chmate  was  not  like 
that  of  France ;  there  was  neither  French  sun  nor 
season.  Everything  there  engendered  a  mortal  ennui. 
The  position  was  disagreeable  and  unhealthy ;  there 
was  no  water ;  that  part  of  the  island  was  a  desert ; 
it  had  been  abandoned  by  the  inhabitants. 
The  unfortunate  Governor  waited  for  this  tornado  of 


106  THE  HEAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

irrelevant  invective  to  exhaust  itself,  and  then  cogently 
and  quietly  pointed  out  that  the  restricted  Umits  com- 
plained of  had  been  defined  by  the  British  Government, 
who  had  also  enjoined  that  an  officer  should  be  con- 
stantly in  attendance  on  the  Emperor. 

To  this  Napoleon  rejoined  that  in  that  case  he  would 
never  leave  his  room,  and  that  if  the  Governor's  masters 
dechned  to  allow  him  a  larger  freedom,  he  would  hence- 
forth ask  for  nothing  from  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  went  on,  he  wanted  nothing  from  them,  and  finally 
told  Sir  Hudson  to  convey  his  views  to  the  Govern- 
ment, 

The  Governor  appears  to  have  been  very  puzzled  as 
to  what  to  do  with  this  "  docile "  gentleman.  He 
tried  the  effect  of  the  soft  answer,  which  in  ordinary 
circumstances  is  said  to  turn  away  wrath,  but  which  in 
this  instance  was  very  much  Hke  preaching  a  homily  on 
the  virtue  of  kindness  to  a  grizzly  bear.  He  fell  back 
upon  the  wooden  house  which  he  said  was  on  its  way 
to  St.  Helena,  and  which  would,  on  its  arrival,  greatly 
improve  the  accommodation  at  Longwood.  The  vessel 
bringing  it  had  also  on  board  a  large  quantity  of  furni- 
ture and  table  dehcacies,  which  he  had  no  doubt  would 
be  acceptable  to  the  exiles,  and  the  Government  were 
doing  all  in  their  power  to  alleviate  the  Emperor's  lot. 

This  conciHatory  reply  only  appears  to  have  added 
fresh  fuel  to  Napoleon's  rage.  He  rejoined  contemptu- 
ously that  all  this  reduced  itself  to  a  mighty  small 


"DOCILITY"— A  LA  CORSE  107 

matter.  He  complained  that  his  desire  to  subscribe 
to  two  Enghsh  papers,  The  Morning  Chronicle  and  The 
Statesman,  had  not  been  compUed  with.  He  had  asked 
for  books,  his  only  remaining  consolation,  and  although 
nine  months  had  elapsed  he  had  received  none.  He  had 
asked  for  news  of  his  wife  and  son,  and  had  remained 
without  an  answer. 

It  may  be  remarked  on  this  complaint  that  the 
interest  manifested  by  Napoleon  in  the  doings  of  his 
amiable  spouse  was  not  at  all  reciprocated  by  that 
volatile  lady,  who,  after  her  husband's  fall,  thought  no 
more  about  him  and  promptly  sought  consolation  for 
his  absence  in  the  arms  of  Neipperg.  Had  the  Emperor 
been  informed  of  this  conduct  of  Marie  Louise,  the 
communication  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  trumpeted 
about  the  world  as  another  insult  of  the  brutal  British 
Government  and  its  despicable  minion. 

The  interview  continued — a  Htany  of  insult,  with 
deprecatory  responses  by  the  Governor. 

As  to  the  comestibles,  the  furniture  and  the  house, 
the  Emperor  and  Lowe  were  both  soldiers,  and  knew 
of  how  little  importance  such  things  were.  The  Gover- 
nor, said  Napoleon,  had  been  in  the  town  of  his  nativity, 
and  perhaps  even  in  his  house,  which,  without  being  the 
worst  in  the  island,  was  no  great  shakes.  Well,  in  spite 
of  having  occupied  a  throne,  and  distributed  crowns, 
he  had  not  forgotten  his  original  condition.  His  sofa 
and  his  campaign  bed  were  quite  sufiicient  for  him. 


108  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

This  was  true  enough.  ^  In  his  early  days  the  Bona- 
parte family  were  in  a  state  of  abject  indigence,  not 
even  being  able  to  keep  a  servant,  and  Madame  Bona- 
parte mere  and  her  three  highly  moral  daughters  had 
to  scrub  the  floors  and  do  the  family  washing. 

Here  the  poor  Governor  meekly  chimed  in  with  his 
response.  The  wooden  house  was,  at  all  events,  a  mark 
of  attention. 

The  Emperor  immediately  got  up  steam  again.  Yes, 
to  justify  themselves,  perhaps,  in  the  eyes  of  Europe  ; 
but  for  him  they  were  matters  of  complete  indifference. 
It  was  not  a  house  and  furniture  he  wanted,  but  rather 
an  executioner  and  a  coffin.  The  house  and  furniture 
appeared  to  him  only  a  mockery  ;  the  other  things 
would  be  a  real  favour.  He  repeated  that  the  orders 
of  the  Ministry  led  to  that  and  he  demanded  it. 

Again  the  puzzled  Governor  tried  the  effect  of  depreca- 
tion, and  asked  whether  he  had  unintentionally  given 
any  offence.  No,  they  had  no  fault  to  find  with  any- 
thing he  had  done  since  his  arrival.  One  act  alone 
had  wounded  them — the  inspection  of  the  servants, 
which  was  an  affront  to  de  Montholon,  whose  good 
faith  it  seemed  to  impugn  ;  and  contemptible,  painful 
and  offensive  towards  himself — perhaps  even  towards 


^  Napoleon's  Brothers,  Atteridge,  p.  5.  The  Sisters  of  Napo- 
leon, Joseph  Turquan  (translation  by  W.  R.  H.  Trowbridge), 
p.  86. 


"DOCILITY"— A  LA  CORSE"  109 

an  English  General  who  interposed  between  the  Emperor 
and  his  valet  de  chambre. 

During  this  scene,  the  Governor  was  seated  in  an 
arm-chair  opposite  Napoleon,  who  remained  on  his 
sofa.  It  was  dusk ;  evening  had  set  in,  and  objects 
could  not  be  clearly  distinguished.  "  It  was  thus 
without  result,"  said  the  Emperor, "  that  I  endea- 
voured to  study  the  play  of  his  features,  and  to  ascer- 
tain  the  impression   I   had   produced." 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  effect  this  futile  and 
irrelevant  tirade  was  expected  to  produce  upon  the 
Governor,  who  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
regulations  laid  down  for  Napoleon's  detention,  and 
who  throughout  the  whole  interview  displayed  a  self- 
control  and  a  desire  to  be  concihatory  which  were 
greatly  to  his  credit.  Many  a  man  would  have  lost 
patience  at  having  his  time  wasted  in  such  a  way. 

However,  the  interview  came  to  an  end  at  last. 
^  Sir  Hudson,  still  anxious  to  show  his  good- will  towards 
his  charge,  repeated  on  leaving  the  offer  he  had  made 
several  times  during  the  conversation,  to  place  the 
services  of  his  own  medical  man  at  the  Emperor's  com- 
mands, but  we  are  told  that  Napoleon  "  saw  through 
the  offer,"  and  repeatedly  refused  it. 

After  completing  his  narrative  the  Emperor  added 
to  Las  Cases  :  "  What  an  ignoble  and  sinister  face  the 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  HMene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  124, 


110  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Governor  has  !  In  the  whole  course  of  my  Ufe  I  never 
beheld  its  equal !  " 

And  yet  we  were  told  a  Uttle  before  that  "  the  evening 
had  set  in,  and  objects  could  not  be  clearly  distin- 
guished," so  that  the  effort  of  the  Emperor  to  read  the 
Governor's  face  had  been  unavailing  ! 

There  are  two  inevitable  conclusions  to  be  drawn 
from  this  interview.  First,  that  the  new  Governor 
entered  upon  his  duties  wth  an  earnest  and  sincere 
desire  to  be  agreeable  to  his  charge.  It  will  have  been 
observed  that  he  hstened  patiently  while  Napoleon  was 
"  mahgning  his  opponents  and  glorifying  himself "  ; 
carefully  refraining  even  from  any  attempt  to  vindicate 
his  Government  from  the  unfounded  imputations  made 
against  it ;  and  second,  that  his  subsequent  interposi- 
tions were  all  directed  to  conciHating  his  interlocutor 
and  disarming  his  wrath.  Very  gently  indeed  did  Sir 
Hudson  suggest  that  the  additional  accommodation 
then  on  its  way  was  an  earnest  of  the  desire  of  the 
Powers  to  mitigate,  as  far  as  possible,  the  hardships  of 
the  Emperor's  exile,  and  very  brutal,  unreasonable 
and  insolent  was  the  spirit  in  which  his  advances  were 
received. 

As  to  the  Governor's  anxious  desire  to  do  his  utmost 

to  assuage  the  lot  of  his  captive,  we  have  the  invaluable 

testimony  of  Mr.  Henry,  whom  we  have  already  quoted. 

In  his  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  he  says :  ^  "  I  believe 

1  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 


"DOCILITY"— A  LA  CORSE  111 

it  to  be  a  fact  that  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  went  to  St.  Helena 
determined  to  conduct  himself  with  courtesy  and  kind- 
ness to  Napoleon.  I  was  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  officer  charged  with  the  care  of  Longwood  for 
nearly  three  years,  and  he  assured  me  that  the  Governor 
repeatedly  desired  him  to  consult  the  comfort  of  the 
great  man,  and  his  suite.  The  two  orderly  officers  at 
Longwood,  Majors  Blakeney  and  Nicholls,  of  the  66th 
Regiment,  have  given  me  the  same  assurance.  I  have 
myself  seen  courteous  notes  from  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  to 
these  officers,  accompanying  pheasants  and  other  dehca- 
cies  sent  from  Plantation  House  for  Napoleon's  table. 
Even  after  two  unfortunate  interviews,  when  the 
Emperor  worked  himself  into  a  rage,  and  used  gross 
and  insulting  expressions  to  the  Governor,  evidently 
to  put  him  into  a  passion,  but  without  success  (for  Sir 
Hudson  maintained  perfect  self-possession  and  self- 
command  throughout),  even  after  this  open  breach, 
the  above  civihties  were  not  discontinued.  Still,  when 
a  pheasant,  the  greatest  rarity  in  the  island,  appeared 
on  the  Governor's  table,  one  was  sure  to  be  sent  to 
Longwood." 


CHAPTER   XT 

BARRY   O'MEARA 

1  A  T  the  close  of  his  interview  with  the  servants  at 
Longwood  Sir  Hudson  had  remarked  that  the 
place  was  finely  situated,  and  that  after  all  the  French- 
men were  not  so  badly  off.  And  when,  in  reply  to  this 
observation,  it  was  complained  that  there  was  a  want 
of  shade  about  it,  owing  to  the  absence  of  trees,  he 
rejoined, "  some  shall  be  planted."  Las  Cases  calls 
this  a  "  7not  atroce  " — "  first  barbarity  of  the  Governor," 
This  is  beyond  us  altogether.  It  appears  to  show  a 
desire  on  the  part  of  Sir  Hudson  to  remedy  the  defect 
complained  of,  and  where  the  "  atrocity  "  comes  in  we 
are  at  a  loss  to  conceive.  The  incident  is  worth  noting, 
as  it  shows  that  Longwood  was  now  in  full  blast  as  a 
grievance  factory,  where  the  flimsiest  raw  material 
was  skilfully  worked  up  into  a  highly  finished  article. 
2  The  Emperor  continued  to  seclude  himself  indoors 
for  six  days,  and  then  sent  for  Dr.  O'Meara,  whose 
subsequent  slanders  of  the  Governor  we  have  already 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  94. 

2  Ibid.  p.  216. 

J12 


BARKY  O'MEARA  113 

referred  to,  and  Las  Cases  was  cinployed  to  sound,  and 
if  possible,  to  win  him  over  to  the  Emperor's  side. 
The  Comit  was  to  tell  him  that  Napoleon  had  no  com- 
plaint to  make  against  him,  so  far  ;  that  he  considered 
him  an  honest  man,  but  wished  to  know  whether  he  was 
to  look  upon  him  as  his  personal  medical  adviser  or  as 
a  prison  surgeon  forced  upon  him  by  the  Government. 
Was  he  the  Emperor's  confessor  or  his  warder  ?  Was 
he  to  make  reports  concerning  him  ?  In  the  one  case 
Napoleon  would  wilhngly  continue  to  accept  his  ser- 
vices, and  he  gladly  recognized  his  past  ministrations ; 
in  the  other,  he  must  ask  him  to  discontinue  his  visits. 

O'Meara  rephed  "  with  affection  "  that  his  atten- 
dance was  entirely  of  a  professional  nature,  quite 
without  a  political  meaning,  and  that  he  considered 
himself  Napoleon's  personal  medical  adviser ;  that  he 
made  no  reports,  and  had  never  been  asked  to  do  so, 
nor  could  he  conceive  an  occasion  which  would  induce 
him  so  to  act,  except  in  the  case  of  serious  illness,  when 
he  might  have  to  call  in  others  of  the  profession  in 
consultation. 

We  invite  the  reader's  particular  attention  to  O'Meara's 
statement  that  he  had  never  been  asked  to  make 
reports  about  Napoleon  to  the  Governor,  and  that 
he  could  not  conceive  such  reports  being  demanded  of 
him,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  one  of  the  gravest  charges 
brought  by  him  afterwards  against  Lowe  was  that 
Sir  Hudson  basely  required  him  to  act  as  a  spy  on  the 


114  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Emperor,  under  cover  of  his  confidential  position  as 
medical  adviser. 

That  Lowe  placed  him  at  Longwood  as  a  spy  is  an 
absolute  fabrication.  He  went  there  at  Napoleon's 
own  request,  and  as  we  have  just  seen,  repudiated  with 
scorn  the  bare  idea  that  he  would  ever  make  reports  to 
the  Governor.  That  he  did  so  afterwards  is  perfectly 
true.  In  fact,  for  some  time  he  led  a  "  double  life," 
posing  at  Longwood  as  a  devotee  of  the  exile,  and  at 
Plantation  House  as  the  confidential  agent  of  the 
Governor.  It  was  only  when  he  quarrelled  with  Sir 
Hudson  and  had  to  be  removed  from  the  island,  that 
he  came  out  as  his  avowed  enemy,  and  to  wreak  his 
vengeance,  pursued  him  with  malignant  slanders  ever 
afterwards.  We  have  from  his  own  pen  the  view  he 
took  of  his  duty  at  Longwood.  Writing  to  his  friend, 
John  Finlaison,  of  the  Admiralty,  to  whom  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  freely  unbosoming  himself,  he  said,  "  I 
could  not  make  a  ^practice  of  communicating  Bona- 
parte's language  to  Lowe,  as  it  would  produce  no  good 
purpose.  On  the  contrary,  it  could  not  fail  to  aggra- 
vate, and  render  ten  times  worse  the  bad  understanding 
which  already  prevails  between  them,  and  my  situation 
would  be  converted  into  that  of  an  incendiary,  neither 
am  I  'placed  about  him  as  a  spy.  Doubtless  I  would 
think  it  my  duty,  and  would  instantly  communicate 
to  Sir  Hudson  any  suspicions  I  might  have  of  a  plan 
for  taking  him  off  the  island,  or  if  I  saw  any  improper 
communication , ' ' 


BAKRY  O'MEARA  115 

As  this  doctor  subsequently  figured  largely  in  the 
troubles  which  arose  during  Sir  Hudson's  governorship, 
and  was  an  active  agent  in  the  campaign  of  calumny 
afterwards  conducted  with  such  malignity  against  that 
functionary,  it  will  be  opportune  here  to  give  some 
account  of  his  career, 

^  Barry  Edward  O'Meara  was  born  in  1786,  and 
entered  the  Army  in  1804  as  Assistant-Surgeon  to  the 
62nd  Regiment,  with  which  he  served  in  Sicily  and 
Calabria,  and  in  Egypt  in  1807.  Soon  after  that  date 
he  had  to  leave  the  Army  owing  to  his  having  been 
mixed  up  in  a  duel  between  two  officers,  and  he  then 
transferred  his  services  to  the  Navy  as  Assistant-Sur- 
geon to  H.M.S.  Victorious,  and  later  became  Surgeon 
to  the  BelleropJion,  thus  coming  into  personal  relations 
with  Napoleon.  He  seems  to  have  behaved  creditably 
during  his  naval  experience,  as  Captain  Maitland  spoke 
highly  of  him.  His  knowledge  of  Itahan  attracted 
Napoleon's  attention,  and  when  the  exile's  own  sur- 
geon declined  to  attend  him  at  St.  Helena,  the  Admir- 
alty, at  the  Emperor's  request,  permitted  O'Meara 
to  accompany  him  to  the  island  as  his  medical  atten- 
dant. At  first  his  relations  with  the  Governor  were 
cordial,  bat  Napoleon's  demonstrations  of  affection 
and  confidence  (which  created  much  jealousy  amongst 
the  suite)  quite  turned  the  head  of  the  surgeon,  who 
seems  to  have  been  an  extremely  vain  and  versatile 

1  J)ictionary  of  National  Biography, 


116  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

person,  and  he  became  a  fanatical  partisan  of  his  patient, 
with  the  inevitable  result  that  he  soon  was  at  daggers 
drawn  with  Sir  Hudson.  In  all  Napoleon's  campaign 
of  insult  and  contumely  against  the  Governor  O'Meara 
took  an  active  part ;  and  his  conduct  became  so  out- 
rageous that  in  July,  1818,  he  was  dismissed  from  his 
post.  He  violated  his  duty  to  his  country  by  surrep- 
titiously bringing  with  him  to  England  an  autograph 
letter  from  the  Emperor,  requesting  all  his  friends  to 
believe  everything  the  surgeon  might  tell  them  regard- 
ing his  position  and  opinions  ;  with  a  special  message 
to  his  "  honne  Louise  "  to  allow  the  medico  to  kiss  her 
hand — apparently  without  first  obtaining  the  consent 
of  Neipperg  to  that  interesting  ceremony.  On  arriving 
in  England,  in  October,  1818,  he  wrote  to  the  Admiralty 
insinuating  that  the  Governor  meditated  doing  Napoleon 
to  death,  and  O'Meara's  name  was  promptly  struck  off 
the  navy  list.  His  whole  conduct,  both  while  at  St. 
Helena  and  afterwards,  was  disgraceful,  and  his  pro- 
fessional capacity  seems  to  have  been  contemptible,  as 
he  diagnosed  Napoleon's  disease  as  Hver  complaint 
induced  by  the  mahgnity  of  the  climate,  whereas  it  was, 
of  course,  the  family  disease  of  cancer,  of  which  Napo- 
leon's father  had  died  at  a  comparatively  early  age,  and 
to  which  his  brother  Lucien,  his  uncle  Fesch  and  his 
sister  Carohne  all  fell  victims.  Either  he  was  a  most 
incompetent  physician,  or  he  wilfully  misrepresented 
the  case  in  order  to  suppoj-t  the  contention  of  the  French 


BARRY  O'MEARA  117 

exiles  that  the  cUmate  of  St.  Helena  was  fatal  to  Euro- 
peans. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  on  arriving  in  England, 
O'Meara  found  himself  a  very  precious  asset  of  the 
Whig  Opposition,  who,  as  we  have  said,  cast  all  scruples 
to  the  winds  in  their  unpatriotic  war  against  the  Tory 
Ministry.  He  was  conspicuous  as  a  champion  of  Queen 
Carohne,  who  was  also  taken  under  the  wing  of  the 
Whigs  for  the  same  reason  ;  and  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Reform  Club,  and  a  hanger-on  of  O'Connell. 
In  fact,  he  identified  himself  vnth.  every  cause  that 
offered  him  a  chance  of  getting  even  with  the  Ministers, 
and  meanwhile  occupied  himself  with  'pubhshing  hbels 
on  the  Governor.  His  first  effort  in  that  line  was 
the  anonymous  appearance  of  Letters  from  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  which  was  afterwards  translated  into  French. 
This  was  answered  by  a  counterblast,  also  anonymous  ; 
and  in  1819  the  polemical  war  was  continued  by  the 
publication  of  a  pamphlet  by  O'Meara  in  reply  to  the 
former.  In  1822  appeared  his  Napoleon  in  Exile,  or  a 
Voice  from  St.  Helena,  which  created  a  great  sensation 
and  soon  reached  a  fifth  edition,  while,  of  course,  it 
was  translated  into  French.  The  aspersions  on  the 
Governor  contained  in  this  publication  were  rebutted 
by  the  Quarterly  and  Blackwood,  and  sustained  by  the 
Edinburgh,  a  fact  which  sufficiently  shows  how  com- 
pletely the  controversy  had  degenerated  into  a  party 
conflict.    The     ex-Governor    appUed    for    a    criminal 


118    THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

information  against  his  traducer,  but  failed,  o\ving  to 
lapse  of  time,  Forsyth's  Captivity  of  Napoleon  at  St. 
Helena,  published  as  late  as  1853,  proved  that  O'Meara's 
statements  were  in  the  main  gross  exaggerations,  inspired 
by  bitter  personal  hatred  of  Sir  Hudson. 

O'Meara  died  on  the  3rd  of  June,  1836,  and  will  stand 
in  the  pillory  of  history  as  one  of  the  most  fanatical  and 
unscrupulous  champions  of  the  greatest  and  most 
inveterate  enemy  that  England  ever  encountered,  and 
as  the  persistent  traducer  of  an  honourable  and  dis- 
tinguished soldier,  who,  by  unremitting  vigilance,  saved 
the  civiUzed  world  from  the  renewal  of  anarchy  and 
carnage,  which  would  have  been  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  Napoleon's  escape. 


CHAPTER   XII 

CORSICAN  POLITENESS 

i/^N  the  9th  of  May,  1816,  a  convoy  arrived  at  St. 
^^  Helena  from  Bengal,  and  amongst  the  passengers 
was  Lady  Loudoun,  the  wife  of  the  Governor-General 
of  India.  Of  course  she  expressed  a  wish  to  be  intro- 
duced to  the  celebrated  exile,  and  the  Governor  accord- 
ingly gave  a  dinner  in  her  honour,  to  which  Napoleon 
was  invited.  Unfortunately,  the  AlUed  Powers  had, 
as  we  have  said,  agreed  to  withhold  from  him  the  title 
of  Emperor,  and  to  recognize  his  right  to  no  other  than 
that  of  General.  Lowe  thus  found  himself  on  the 
horns  of  a  dilemma — either  to  run  the  risk  of  displeasing 
Lady  Loudoun,  or  of  touching  his  prisoner  on  the 
tenderest  spot.  The  Governor  unluckily  chose  the 
latter  alternative,  and  a  note  was  in  due  course  left 
at  Longwood  inviting  "  General  Bonaparte  "  to  dinner 
at  Plantation  House.  The  "  Grand  Marechal "  received 
the  missive  and  handed  it  over  to  his  master,  who, 
shrugging  his  shoulders,  exclaimed,  "  This  is  too  stupid  ! 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  j).  239. 
119 


120  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

No  reply,"  The  incident  did  not  tend  to  improve  the 
Emperor's  attitude  towards  Sir  Hudson.,  but  added 
another  to  the  grievances  in  stock  at  Longwood. 

^  A  week  after  this  occurrence,  during  which  Napo- 
leon had  doubtless  been  "  nursing  his  wrath  to  keep  it 
warm,"  the  Governor  presented  himself  at  the  grievance 
factory.  As  Las  Cases  states,  the  estrangement, 
misunderstanding  and  bitterness  which  it  had  been 
determined  by  the  Emperor  and  his  friends  to  create  in 
their  relations  with  Sir  Hudson,  had  been  rapidly  grow- 
ing, and  neither  party  was  by  any  means  well  disposed 
towards  the  other. 

The  Governor  called  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  at- 
tended by  his  mihtary  secretary.  He  desired,  he  said, 
to  see  the  Emperor,  in  order  to  talk  business  with  him. 
Napoleon  was  said  to  be  unwell,  and  was  not  dressed  ; 
nevertheless,  he  consented  to  receive  his  visitor,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  passed  into  the  salon,  where  Las  Cases 
introduced  Sir  Hudson. 

Las  Cases  waited  in  the  antechamber,  with  the 
military  secretary,  and  could  gather  from  the  sound 
of  his  master's  voice  that  the  Emperor  was  in  one  of 
his  furies,  and  that  the  encounter  was  extremely  hot. 
The  interview  was  very  long  and  extremely  stormy, 
and  at  its  close  Napoleon  sent  for  Las  Cases  in  the 
garden,  and  proceeded  as  follows  to  describe  it. 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helaie,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  290,  etc. 


CORSICAN  POLITENESS  121 

^  "  Well."  said  he,  "  I  regret  to  say  that  the  crisis  has 
been  acute.  They  have  sent  me  worse  than  a  gaoler. 
Sir  Hudson  is  a  hangman.  Anyhow,  I  received  him 
to-day  with  my  most  aggressive  attitude ;  head  bent, 
ear  advanced.  One  would  have  taken  us  for  two  rams 
ready  for  a  butting  match,  and  my  fury  must  have  been 
extreme,  for  I  felt  my  left  calf  vibrating.  That  is  always 
an  unmistakable  symptom  with  me,  and  I  have  not  felt 
it  for  a  long  time." 

The  Governor  had  begun  with  some  embarrassment, 
and  in  halting  words.  Small  wonder,  unhappy  man, 
after  his  previous  experience  of  the  captive's  brutahty. 
The  wooden  house  had  arrived — no  doubt  Napoleon 
had  learnt  this  from  the  newspapers — it  was  intended 
as  an  addition  to  his  accommodation — ^he  (Sir  Hudson) 
would  be  glad  to  know  what  the  Emperor  thought  of 
it ;  to  all  of  which  the  exile  repHed  by  silence  and  an 
expressive  gesture.  Then  passing  rapidly  on  to  other 
matters,  he  explained  with  heat  that  he  wanted  no- 
thing except  to  be  left  alone ;  that  while  having  much 
to  complain  of  in  Admiral  Cockburn,  that  officer  was  at 
all  events  good  at  heart ;  and  that  he  (Napoleon),  in 
spite  of  all  the  Admiral's  vexations,  had  always  had 
complete  confidence  in  him  ;  that  now  it  was  no  longer 
so  ;  that  for  the  last  month,  in  which  he  had  found 
himself  in  other  hands,  he  had  been  more  tormented 
than  during  the  previous  six  months. 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  71,  etc. 


122     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

The  Governor,  who  was  evidently  getting  tired  of 
these  outbursts  of  rudeness,  rephed  that  he  had  not 
come  there  to  receive  lessons ;  to  which  the  Emperor 
insolently  rejoined  that  it  was  not  for  want  of  requiring 
them.  He  then  burst  into  a  tornado  of  ungovernable 
rage,  which  recalls  Talleyrand's  expression  of  regret 
that  so  great  a  man  should  have  been  so  badly  brought 
up. 

"  You  have  told  me,  sir,  that  your  instructions  are 
much  more  severe  than  those  of  the  Admiral.  Are 
they  to  put  me  to  death  by  sword  or  poison  ?  I  am 
ready  for  anything  at  the  hands  of  your  Ministers ; 
behold  me  !  Execute  your  victim.  I  don't  know  what 
poison  you  would  employ,  but  as  to  kilUng  with  the 
sword  you  have  already  found  the  method.  If  you 
presume,  as  you  have  threatened,  to  violate  the  sanctity 
of  my  domicile,  I  tell  you  that  the  brave  53rd  shall  only 
enter  it  over  my  body. 

"  On  learning  of  your  arrival,  I  congratulated  myself 
on  being  about  to  meet  a  military  officer,  who,  having 
been  engaged  in  important  duties  on  the  Continent, 
would  understand  how  to  act  with  decency  towards 
me.  I  have  discovered  that  I  was  grossly  mis- 
taken." 

The  Governor  here  replied  with  great  propriety  and 
self-control  that  he  was  an  officer  in  the  service,  and 
under  the  regulations  of  his  country. 

This  set  the  Emperor  off  again. 


CORSICAN  POLITENESS  123 

"Your  Nation,"  he  went  on,  "  your  Government,  you 
yourself,  will  be  covered  with  opprobrium  on  my  ac- 
count ;  your  children  will  partake  of  the  infamy,  for 
so  posterity  will  decree.  Has  barbarity  exceeded  yours, 
sir,  when  a  few  days  ago  you  invited  me  to  your  table 
under  the  style  of  General  Bonaparte,  in  order  to  make 
me  the  laughing-stock  and  entertainment  of  your 
guests  ?  Have  you  reflected  one  moment  on  the  title 
you  thought  fit  to  give  me  ?  I  refuse  to  be  considered 
by  you  as  General  Bonaparte  ;  neither  you  nor  any  one 
else  on  earth  have  the  right  to  deprive  me  of  the  digni- 
ties that  are  justly  mine.  If  Lady  Loudoun  had  been 
within  the  hmits  imposed  upon  me,  I  would  undoubtedly 
have  waited  upon  her,  because  I  have  no  quarrel  with  a 
woman,  but  I  should  have  considered  myself  as  paying 
her  a  great  honour.  I  am  told  that  you  have  ofiered 
to  send  me  some  of  your  staff-oflScers  to  attend  me  in 
the  island,  instead  of  the  ordinary  ofl&cer  stationed  at 
Longwood.  Sir,  when  soldiers  have  received  their 
baptism  of  fire  on  the  field  of  battle,  they  are  all  equal 
in  my  eyes ;  their  rank  is  not  what  I  object  to,  it  is 
being  compelled  to  see  them  there  at  all,  which  is  a  tacit 
reminder  of  the  very  thing  against  which  I  protest. 
I  am  in  no  sense  a  prisoner  of  war.  I  am  therefore  in 
no  way  bound  to  submit  to  the  regulations  which  are 
the  result  of  that  condition.  I  am  only  in  your  power 
as  victim  of  a  most  horrible  breach  of  confidence." 

The  Governor  would  appear  to  have  borne  this  tirade 


124  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

with  philosophic  resignation,  doubtless  attributing  it  to 
Corsican  ideas  of  pohteness,  for  on  leaving,  he  calmly 
requested  permission  to  present  his  secretary  to  the 
Emperor  ;  who  repUed  that  it  would  be  useless  ;  that 
if  that  officer  had  any  delicacy  of  feeling  (of  which,  by 
the  way.  Napoleon  showed  himself  such  a  master !) 
he  would  hardly  desire  it,  and,  that  so  far  as  he  himself 
was  concerned,  he  had  no  wish  for  the  introduction. 
That,  after  all,  friendly  relations  were  impossible  be- 
tween gaolers  and  prisoners,  and  that  it  was  conse- 
quently perfectly  futile.  With  that  he  dismissed  the 
Governor. 

Having  repeated  his  insults  and  provocations,  and 
covered  Sir  Hudson  and  his  Government  with  the 
foulest  abuse,  ^  Napoleon,  during  the  evening,  indulged 
in  rejQections  on  the  scene  of  the  afternoon ;  dwelling 
on  the  abominable  treatment  of  which  he  was  the 
victim,  upon  the  diabolical  hatred  which  prompted  it, 
and  the  brutahty  with  which  it  was  carried  out ;  and, 
after  some  moments  of  silent  thought,  exclaimed  to 
Las  Cases,  "  My  friend,  they  mean  to  kill  me  here ! 
that  is  certain  !  " 

Before  taking  leave  of  this  interview,  let  us  analyse 
it  briefly.  It  was  certainly  somewhat  tactless  of  the 
Governor  to  invite  Napoleon  to  dinner  at  all,  bearing 
in  mind  his  manifest  determination  to   repel  with  con- 

^  Memorial  de  Ste>  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  295. 


CORSICAN  POLITENESS  125 

tumely  all  conciliatory  overtures,  and  seeing  also  that 
the  invitation  must  of  necessity  have  been  addressed  to 
"  General  Bonaparte." 

His  motive,  however,  in  paying  this  second  visit  was 
a  thoroughly  good  one.  He  commenced  with  the 
information  that  the  additional  house  accommodation 
had  arrived,  and  desired  to  know  Napoleon's  views 
on  the  matter.  The  reply  was  an  insulting  compari- 
son between  Sir  Hudson  and  his  predecessor,  whom  so 
long  as  it  suited  Napoleon  to  hate,  he  had  hated,  and 
whom  he  was  only  prevented  by  an  accident  from  in- 
sulting before  his  of&cers.  Napoleon  then  suggests 
that  the  Governor  means  to  kill  him,  and  launches 
out  again  into  a  general  abuse  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment and  their  instructions,  with  which  his  visitor 
had  no  more  to  do  than  the  man  in  the  moon.  His 
statement  that  he  was  not  a  prisoner  of  war  was  true 
in  the  technical  sense.  He  was  held  in  durance  for  that 
"  reason  of  state  "  which  had  been  repeatedly  invoked 
by  him  during  his  whole  career,  and  in  virtue  of  which 
he  had  incarcerated  in  his  fortresses,  without  trial, 
hundreds  of  people,  from  Pope  to  pilot. 

The  Governor,  on  his  side,  would  seem  to  have  exer- 
cised a  marvellous  degree  of  self-control.  Only  once  was 
he  betrayed  into  a  remark  savouring  of  irritation,  and 
that  was  when  Napoleon  had  insultingly  assumed  the 
role  of  mentor  in  manners.  Assuredly,  not  one  man 
in  ten  thousand   would  have    shown  the   Governor's 


126  THE  EEAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

forbearance  under  such  intolerable  provocation.  That 
he  felt  it  is  clear,  for,  as  he  passed  out,  he  met  the 
"  Grand  Marechal  "  and  bitterly  complained  to  him  of 
the  Emperor's  behaviour. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

GUERRA   AL  CUCHILLO 

A  FURTHER  instance  of  the  war  to  the  knife,  which 
-^  had  now  been  openly  declared  by  Longwood 
against  Plantation  House,  was  afforded  a  short  time 
after  the  interview  described  in  the  previous  chapter. 
Mr.  Balcombe,  who  it  will  be  remembered  was  the 
owner  of  The  Briars,  where  Napoleon  passed  his  first 
days  in  St.  Helena,  had  been  commissioned  by  the 
British  Government  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  French 
exiles  at  its  expense,  and  informed  Las  Cases  of  the 
fact.  ^  That  gentleman  repUed  to  this  well-meant 
communication,  that  having  means  of  his  own,  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  not  to  be  beholden  in  any  way  to  the 
Government,  and  asked  Mr.  Balcombe  to  obtain  per- 
mission from  Sir  Hudson  to  receive  a  draft  on  London, 
which  could  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  what  was 
needed,  without  special  authorization. 

The  arrest  of  one  of  the  servants  at  Longwood,  and 
the  retention  of  certain  letters  for  irregularity  of  address, 
added  fuel  to  the  flames ;    ^  but  in  a  moment  of  post- 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  317. 

2  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  part  5,  p.  270. 

127 


128     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.   HELENA 

prandial  candour  Napoleon  admitted  that  in  the  last 
interview  he  had  treated  the  Governor  very  badly,  and 
that  only  the  position  in  which  he  was  placed  could 
justify  his  conduct.  But  he  added  that  it  was  per- 
missible for  him  to  indulge  in  outbursts  of  temper  which 
in  other  circumstances  would  make  him  blush.  "  If  I 
had  been  at  the  Tuileries,"  said  he,  "  my  conscience 
would  have  compelled  me  to  apologize,  but  here  I  have 
no  desire  to  do  so."  Then  he  went  on  to  pay  an  un- 
intentional tribute  to  Sir  Hudson's  self-restraint,  by 
remarking  that  the  Governor  seemed  httle  affected  by 
the  insults  heaped  upon  him — his  delicacy  did  not 
appear  wounded.  "  I  would  have  preferred,"  said 
Napoleon,  "  for  the  sake  of  his  honour,  to  have  seen 
him  get  into  a  rage,  or  slam  the  door  violently  on  his 
exit."  And  if  the  Governor  had  so  acted,  his  conduct 
would  have  been  reported  to  Europe  by  the  next  oppor- 
timity  as  another  outrage  by  the  brutal  gaoler.  It  is 
evident  from  this  admission  that  Sir  Hudson's  imper- 
turbable stoicism  goaded  Napoleon  to  fury,  as  it  defeated 
his  settled  purpose  of  provoking  the  Governor  to  a 
ballyragging  match,  which  would  only  have  brought 
him  down  to  the  level  of  his  prisoner.  As  it  was,  Lowe 
maintained  a  dignified  reticence  which  compares  most 
favourably  with  the  vulgar  vituperation  of  Napoleon, 
whose  whole  behaviour  proves  that,  in  the  words  of 
WelUngton,  "the  fellow  was  no  gentleman." 
It  may  be  remarked  here,  that   Napoleon  reserved 


GUERRA  AL  CUCHILLO  129 

all  his  brutality  for  those  who  were  appointed  to  secure 
his  person  ;  and  that,  with  his  usual  cunning,  he  made 
himself  vastly  agreeable  to  all  the  English  whom  he 
merely  saw  as  visitors.  In  this  way  he  achieved  a 
double  object — first,  that  it  might  be  reported  in  Europe 
that  he  was  subjected  to  all  kinds  of  cruelties  by  his 
custodians,  and  second,  to  secure  by  his  affabihty  and 
condescension  to  others  a  favourable  report  of  his 
exquisite  pohteness  and  good-natured  urbanity ;  on 
the  one  hand  to  arouse  indignation  at  his  treatment,  and 
on  the  other  to  evoke  sympathy  by  having  himself 
represented  as  a  model  of  courtesy  and  good  temper 
under  the  grossest  provocation.  He  took  care  also 
to  speak  well  of  all  the  Enghsh  he  met  at  St,  Helena, 
other  than  Cockbum  and  Lowe.  Of  Colonel  Wilks, 
ex-Governor  of  the  island,  the  Balcombes,  and  all  the 
naval  and  other  officers  who  called  on  him.  Napoleon 
expressed  himself  in  terms  of  the  utmost  regard,  and 
they,  of  course,  dehghted  with  his  geniaUty,  returned 
home  ardent  sympathi^iers  with  the  "  victim,"  to  spread 
the  fable  of  his  wrongs. 

Sir  Hudson,  in  view  of  the  attitude  of  open  and 
unbending  hostiUty  assumed  by  the  Emperor  towards 
him,  tried  the  effect  of  expostulation  with  "  Grand 
Marechal "  Bertrand,  but  with  no  better  result.  At 
this  interview  Sir  Hudson  frankly  reproached  the  exiles 
with  complaining  of  their  treatment  without  just 
cause ;  he  stated  that,  all  things  considered,  they  were 

I 


130    THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

very  well  off,  and  should  be  contented  with  their  lot ; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  they  appeared  determined  to 
abuse  the  privileges  they  enjoyed  ;  and  that  in  any 
event  it  was  his  duty  to  satisfy  himself  every  day,  by 
ocular  evidence,  of  the  presence  of  the  Emperor.  This 
last  point  was  of  the  greatest  importance.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  Government's  instructions  were 
to  permit  every  indulgence  to  Napoleon  "  compatible 
vnth.  the  entire  security  of  his  person."  Lowe  recog- 
nized the  enormous  responsibility  which  this  imposed 
upon  him,  and  he  was  fully  ahve  to  the  fact  that  even 
the  isolation  of  St.  Helena  was  not  a  sufficient  guarantee 
against  his  prisoner's  resourcefulness  in  evasion.  The 
Emperor  had  not  been  seen  for  nearly  a  week,  and  what 
would  have  been  the  consequences  to  the  world  and  to 
Lowe  himself  had  the  Emperor  succeeded  in  escaping 
under  the  pretence  of  being  confined  to  his  room  all  that 
time  ?  It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  his  presence 
should  be  verified,  even  at  the  cost  of  intrusion  into  his 
sanctum  sanctorum,  and  Lowe  acted  with  great  consider- 
ation in  making  this  clear  to  Bertrand,  so  that  he  might 
break  it  to  his  master,  instead  of  communicating  it  to 
Napoleon  direct.  On  this  occasion,  at  least,  Lowe 
showed  some  of  that  tact  of  which  he  is  accused  of  being 
entirely  devoid.  It  was  a  painful  duty,  which  he 
discharged  in  the  best  possible  way. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  when  this  intimation  was 
generally  known  among  the  household  at  Longwood, 


GUERRA  AL  CUCHILLO  131 

it  was  received  with  execration  as  another  "  barbarie 
du  Gouverneur"  and  a  great  deal  of  tall  talk  about 
dying  rather  than  submitting  to  it  was  indulged  in. 

The  avowed  determination  of  the  Frenchmen  to  make 
his  duty  as  difficult  as  possible,  and  to  lose  no  oppor- 
tunity of  thwarting  and  insulting  him,  compelled  the 
Governor  to  keep  a  strict  surveillance  over  the  establish- 
ment at  Longwood.  He  had  now  been  convinced,  by 
mmiistakable  evidence,  that  his  overtures  of  conciUa- 
tion  and  indulgence  had  been  rejected  once  and  for 
all,  with  insult  and  contumely,  and  that  bitter  and 
unrelenting  war  was  all  that  he  could  expect.  The 
attitude  he  had  assumed  towards  the  exiles  on  his 
arrival  makes  it  clear  that,  had  his  kind  advances  been 
met  in  a  similar  spirit,  a  system  approaching  parole 
would  have  been  tacitly  adopted,  and  the  Emperor 
and  his  suite  would  have  found  their  lot  much  pleasanter 
than  it  necessarily  now  became.  A  declaration  of  war 
a  outrance  against  the  British  Government  and  its 
representative  involved  corresponding  precautions  on 
the  other  side,  and  forced  the  Governor  to  be  per- 
petuall}^  on  his  guard  lest  the  campaign  of  insults  to 
himself  should  be  extended  to  intrigues  and  plottings 
of  a  much  more  dangerous  character.  He  saw  clearly 
that  he  had  a  nest  of  inveterate  and  unscrupulous 
enemies  to  deal  with,  and  was  compelled  to  defend  his 
country's  interests  and  his  own  by  following  strictly 
the  instructions  given  him  by  his  Government.    For 


132  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

this  result,  whicli  redounded  so  much  to  their  disadvan- 
tage, Napoleon  and  his  troublesome  followers  were 
alone  responsible. 

The  ingenuity  of  the  Frenchmen  in  discovering  what 
they  called  "  mechancetes  "  on  the  part  of  the  Governor 
and  his  masters,  was  really  so  stupendous  that  one 
cannot  help  feeUng  for  it  a  sort  of  admiration.  We  have 
seen  that  the  British  Government  had  sought  to  add  to 
the  comfort  of  the  Longwood  establishment  by  send- 
ing out  a  supply  of  furniture.  Even  this  was  worked 
up  into  an  offence.  The  Emperor  complained  of  the 
gaucherie  displayed  by  those  charged  with  its  trans- 
mission, and  alleged  that  in  sending  what  in  itself  would 
have  been  welcome,  the  occasion  had  been  seized  for  a 
fresh  affront.  In  what  this  "  affront "  consisted  does 
not  appear.  It  was  doubtless  purely  imaginary,  and 
invented  to  further  the  intransigent  policy  now  in  full 
operation.  At  any  rate  it  was  resolved  not  to  make 
use  of  this  furniture,  and  also  to  reject  two  fowling- 
pieces  which  the  English  Government,  with  well-meant 
but  misplaced  courtesy,  had  sent  out  for  presentation 
to  Napoleon. 

The  redundancy  of  the  Emperor's  household  was  a 
matter  which  called  for  comment  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment, It  involved  a  very  heavy  expenditure,  for  in 
spite  of  the  alleged  insalubrity  of  the  climate,  St.  Helena 
appeared  to  have  a  tonic  effect  on  the  appetites  of  the 
exiles  ;    and  the  table  expenses  were  enormous.    And 


GUERRA  AL  CUCHILLO  133 

no  wonder.    ^  Barry  O'Meara,  who  was  a  daily  spectator 

of  the  Long  wood  saturnaha,  thus  describes  the  round  of 

guzzhng  and  gormandizing   that   was   the  permanent 

order  of  the  day.    There  were  two  dinners,  the  first  at 

11  or  12  o'clock,  at  which  roast  and  boiled  joints  with 

various   ragouts,    fricassees,  etc.,  were  served  up,  and 

washed  down  with  wine  and  hqueurs ;  the  second  at  8, 

which  only  differed  from  the  first  in  being  supplied  with 

more  dishes.     Besides  these  two  meals,  they  all  had 

(with  the  exception  of  Napoleon,  who  only  ate  twice  a 

day,  but  then  certainly  very  heartily)  something  hke 

an  Enghsh  breakfast  in  bed,  between   8   and  9  in  the 

morning,  and  a  luncheon  with  wine  at  4  or  5  in  the 

afternoon.     O'Meara  goes  on  to  say,   "  I  am  convinced 

that  between  their  two   dinners   and    luncheon  they 

consume  three  or  four  times  as  much  as  any  English 

family  composed  of  a  similar  number  of  persons.    These 

two  dinners,  then,  cause  a  great  consumption  of  meat 

and  wine,  which,  together  with  their  mode  of  cookery, 

require  a  great  quantity  of  either  butter  or  oil,  both 

excessively    dear    in    this    place.    Their    sowpes     con- 

sommees  (for  they  are,  except  one  or  two,  the  greatest 

gluttons   and  epicures    I    ever   saw),  producing    great 

waste  of  meat,  in  a  place  where  the  necessaries  of  life 

are  so  dear,  altogether  render  necessary  a  very  great 

expenditure  of  money  daily."^ 

The  retinue  of  servants  (all  fanatical  devotees  of  the 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  361. 

2  From  1st  of  October,  1816,  to  30th   of  June,  1817,  10,318 


134    THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Emperor,  and  ready  to  break  every  law  in  his  cause)  and 
the  members  of  the  suite,  not  forgetting  the  two  ladies 
and  the  Irish  surgeon  (who  was  acting  a  double  part  as 
the  pretended  friend  of  both  sides),  were  by  their  very 
numbers  a  source  of  great  danger  in  the  island.  It 
was  a  hostile  encampment,  a  hot-bed  of  intrigue, 
sowing  suspicion  broadcast  around  it,  and  surrep- 
titiously conveying  falsehoods  to  Europe  by  every 
available  opportunity. 

The  Governor  remonstrated  with  "  Grand  Marechal  " 
Bertrand  on  the  reckless  extravagance  of  the  household 
at  Long  wood.  He  said  that  his  Government  had  never 
intended  to  provide  for  more  than  a  daily  table  of  four 
covers,  and  intimated  that  if  more  were  required  the 
exiles  might  provide  it  at  their  own  expense.  This 
seems  a  reasonable  position.  These  people  had  come 
there  of  their  own  accord,  and  could  hardly  expect 
to  be  supported  in  a  hfe  of  easy  idleness  at  the  unlimited 
cost  of  a  Government  against  which  they  had  declared 
open  war.  What  might  have  been  quietly  winked  at 
if  they  had  accepted  their  position  with  a  good  grace, 
became  a  piece  of  intolerable  impudence  as  things 
actually  were. 

The  falsehoods  which  were  being  circulated  in  Europe 
from  this  centre  of  misrepresentation,  and  which  were 
conveyed  out  of  the  island  by  persons  who  had  been 

bottles  of  various  kinds  of  wine,  and   1,512  bottles  of  spirits, 
were  consumed  by  the  Longwood  household. 


GUEHRA  AL  CUCHILLO  135 

imposed  on  by  Napoleon's  consummate  mastery  of  the 
art  of  hmnbug,  made  it  necessary  rigidly  to  enforce 
the  rules  laid  down  for  the  regulation  of  correspon- 
dence, much  to  the  indignation,  real  or  assumed,  of  the 
"victims"  of  this  "persecution,"  particularly  in 
the  case  of  Madame  Bertrand.  But  the  Governor,  who 
had  seen  a  great  deal  of  the  world,  was  no  doubt  quite 
ahve  to  the  fact  that  as  an  intriguer,  a  woman  is  a 
thousand  times  more  artful  and  dangerous  than  a  man, 
and  consequently  kept  a  sharp  look  out  on  that  lady's 
doings.  ^  He  found  her  carrying  on  a  correspondence 
with  people  in  the  town  without  his  knowledge,  and 
promptly  had  the  letter  impounded  and  returned  to 
her,  accompanied  by  an  official  interdiction  of  such 
clandestine  communications  in  future.  As  to  the 
restrictions  which  he  found  himself  obliged  to  impose 
upon  the  activities  of  the  Longwood  intriguers,  he 
pointed  out  that  if  they  were  unpalatable  there  was 
always  the  alternative  of  leaving  the  island. 

Whenever,  consistently  with  his  duty,  the  Governor 
could  return  good  for  evil  he  did  so.  In  a  letter  to 
Europe  one  of  the  suite  had  ordered  some  toilet  re- 
quisites. Lowe  drew  his  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  articles  in  question  could  be  obtained  from  the 
supphes  sent  out  by  the  Government.  The  thanks  he 
received  for  this  act  of  courtesy  was  an  unmannerly 
reply  that  the  person  concerned  preferred  to  buy  them. 
^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  200,  etc. 


136  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

To  this  the  Governor  dryly  rejoined  that  he  was  quite 
at  hberty  to  do  so  if  it  pleased  him  ;  to  which  the  other 
insolently  responded  that  he  preferred  to  choose  his 
own  shop.  Sir  Hudson  stated  that  he  would  acquaint 
his  Government  with  this  contemptuous  refusal  of  a 
well-meant  offer,  and  received  the  reply  that  it  would 
be  much  more  agreeable  that  he  should  report  to  his 
Ministers  refusals  rather  than  requests.  These  incidents 
Las  Cases  describes  as  annoyances  {tracasseries)  on  the 
part  of  the  Governor.  Any  fair-minded  person  must 
see  that  the  boot  was  on  the  other  leg. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

AGRO-DOLCE 

f\^  the  16th  of  July,  1816,  at  two  in  the  afternoon,  the 
Governor  had  another  interview  with  Napoleon. 
^  Earher  in  the  day,  the  Emperor  had  gone  for  a  drive 
with  O'Meara,  into  whose  sympathetic  ear  he  had 
poured  a  tirade  of  abuse  against  Sir  Hudson.  He  was 
therefore  in  good  trim  for  an  encounter  wth  his  bete- 
noir ;  he  was  indeed  in  his  very  best  form,  as  will 
be  seen  from  what  follows. 

The  audience  lasted  close  on  two  hours.  ^  Napoleon, 
with  "  damned  iteration,"  went  through  the  same  old 
story  as  before  ;  recapitulated  all  the  alleged  wrongs 
he  pretended  to  have  suffered,  and  appealed  in  turn 
to  the  Governor's  reason,  to  his  mind,  to  his  feehngs, 
and  to  his  heart.  What  object  he  could  expect  to 
achieve  by  this  discourse  it  is  impossible  to  imagine, 
seeing  that  the  Governor  was  there  merely  to  carry  out 
the  instructions  he  had  received.    We  are  told  that 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helenc,  vol.  iii.  part  5,  p.  15. 
2  Ibid.  p.  16,  etc. 

137 


138     THE  KEAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

the  oration  produced  no  effect  on  "  this  man  without 
nerves,"  from  whom  nothing  could  be  hoped. 

Sir     Hudson     informed    his     interlocutor    that    in 
arresting  the  domestic  he  was  not  aware  that  the  man 
was  in  the  service  of  the  Long  wood  household,  and  denied 
having    read    Madame    Bertrand's   impounded   letter. 
The  Emperor   rephed   that   the  letter  written  by  the 
Governor  to  the  "  Grand  Marechal "  was  foreign  to 
French   manners,   and   altogether   opposed   to   French 
ideas,  and  that  if  he,  the  Emperor,  had  been  an  ordin- 
ary General  in  private  Ufe,  he  would    have    cut   the 
throat  of  any  man  who  should  have  dared  to  send 
him  such  a  missive.    He  continued.  That  a  man  so 
well  known  and  so  universally  venerated  in    Europe 
as  the  "  Grand  Marechal "  could  not  be  insulted  with 
impunity  and  without  bringing  on  the  offender  social 
opprobrium ;    that  the  Governor  did  not  understand 
his  position  with  regard  to  the  exiles  ;  that  all  his  acts 
were  already  matters  of  history,   and  that  the  very 
conversation    then    in    progress    was    history.     That 
Lowe  daily  discredited  his   Government  and  himself 
by  his  conduct,  and  would  in  due  time  suffer  for  it. 
That  his  Government  would  disavow  him  in  the  long 
run,  and  that  a  stain  would  rest  upon  his  name  which 
would  descend  to  his  children.     "  Would  you  hke  to 
know,"  stormed  the  docile  one,   "  what  we  think  of 
you  ?     We   beheve   you   to   be   capable   of   anything, 
mais  de  tout ;    and  so  long  as  you  manifest  your  hate 


AGRO-DOLCE  139 

we  shall  cherish  our  opinion.  I  will  wait  a  little  longer, 
so  as  to  make  quite  certain,  and  I  shall  then  deplore, 
as  the  worst  act  of  the  British  Ministry  in  my  regard, 
not  having  sent  me  to  St.  Helena,  but  having  appointed 
you  to  the  governorship.  You  are  a  greater  curse  to 
us  than  all  the  miseries  of  this  frightful  rock." 

The  Governor,  who  by  this  time  had  no  doubt  be- 
come accustomed  to  these  calculated  outbursts  of  fury, 
kept  his  temper  admirably,  and  merely  rephed  that 
he  was  only  accountable  to  his  Government,  and  that 
so  far  as  the  Emperor  was  concerned  he  could  get  on 
pretty  well  with  him,  but  as  to  his  followers,  they  did 
nothing  but  aggravate  matters,  and  foment  ill-feeling. 

With  respect  to  the  three  Commissioners  of  the 
Great  Powers,  who  had  arrived  a  short  time  before,  to 
keep  an  eye  on  him,  and  whom  the  Governor  now 
desired  to  present.  Napoleon  refused  to  receive  them 
in  their  political  capacity,  but  stated  that  he  would 
wilUngly  do  so  as  private  individuals.  That  he  had 
no  feeling  against  any  of  them,  not  even  against  M. 
Montchenu,  the  French  representative,  who  was  doubt- 
less a  very  worthy  man,  and  who,  having  been  his  sub- 
ject for  ten  years,  and  one  of  the  emigres,  probably 
owed  to  him  the  privilege  of  returning  to  France. 
After  all,  said  Napoleon,  he  was  a  Frenchman,  a  title 
which  was  sacred  to  him,  and  which  no  political  opinions 
could  destroy. 

The  Emperor  next  referred  to  the  proposed  additions 


140  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

to  the  house,  which  had  been  the  main  object  of  the 
Governor's  visit,  and  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  them,  saying  that  he  preferred  to  put  up  Avith  his 
present  wretched  quarters  rather  than  purchase  better 
at  the  expense  of  noise  and  the  discomfort  of  rearrang- 
ing his  household.  He  added  that  the  buildings  which 
it  was  proposed  to  erect  would  take  years  to  complete, 
by  which  time  those  for  whom  they  were  intended 
would  either  no  longer  be  worth  the  trouble,  or  would 
have  been  dehvered  by  Providence  out  of  their  enemy's 
hands. 

Seeing  his  charge  as  intractable  as  ever,  and  that 
every  conciliatory  attempt  on  his  part  only  added  fuel 
to  the  flames,  the  Governor  brought  the  interview 
to  a  close. 

^  Shortly  after  this  a  fire  broke  out  at  Longwood, 
in  the  drawing-room  chimney.  It  was  a  golden  op- 
portunity to  accuse  the  Governor  of  attempting  to 
incinerate  the  whole  party,  but  somehow  or  other 
it  was  missed.  Indignor  quandoque  bonus  dormitat 
Homer  us. 

Admiral  Sir  Pulteney  Malcolm  had  arrived  at  St. 
Helena  early  in  July,  in  succession  to  Sir  George  Cock- 
burn,  and  on  the  25th  called  at  Longwood.  ^  The 
interview  which  took  place  between  him  and  the  Em- 
peror is  interesting,  because  the  treatment  accorded 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  26. 
2  Ibid.  p.  69,  etc. 


AGRO-DOLCE  141 

him  offers    a  significant  contrast  to  Napoleon's  beha- 
viour to  Sir  George  and  the  Governor.    We  have  seen 
his  conduct  towards  Cockburn  while  that  officer  was 
temporarily  in  authorit}%  and  how  as  soon  as  he  had 
departed  the  Emperor  began  to  compare  him  favour- 
ably   with    Lowe.    Sir   Pulteney    had    no    connection 
with    Napoleon's    captivity,    and    could    therefore    be 
treated    with    civiHty,    in   order   that   his   sympathies 
might   be   aroused   for   the   captive,   and  perhaps  the 
seeds  of  enmity  sown  between  him  and  the  Governor. 
The   Emperor   was   therefore   on   his  best   behaviour. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  pugnacious  ram  about  him 
on  this  occasion,  wdth  foot  advanced,  head  bent  down 
and   ear   thrown   forward,    ready   to   butt   ferociously 
at  his  unwilUng  antagonist.     He  was  the  very  incarna- 
tion of  cordiahty,  moderation  and  sweet  reasonable- 
ness, and  engaged  in  a  friendly  chat  with  Malcohn  for 
nearly    three    hours.     The    Admiral    found    himself, 
says  the  narrator,  in  agreement  with  the  Emperor  on  a 
crowd  of  subjects,  and  we  know  Disraeli's  definition 
of  an  agreeable  man,  as  a  man  who  agrees  with  you. 
He  admitted  that  escape  from   St.   Helena   was   ex- 
tremely   difficult — ^not    impossible    be    it    noted — and 
he  could  see  no  reason  why  Napoleon  should  not  have 
the  run  of  the  whole  island.    He  considered  it  absurd 
not  to  have  lodged  the  exile  in  Plantation  House — 
the    residence    of    the    Governor.    He    understood — 
but  only  since  his  arrival  at  St.  Helena — how  ofEen- 


142  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

sive  the  title  of  "  General "  must  be  to  Napoleon. 
He  said  that  Lady  Loudoun  had  made  herself  ridiculous 
in  the  island,  and  would  be  the  laughing-stock  of  London. 
He  was  of  opinion  that  the  Governor's  intentions  were 
undoubtedly  good,  but  that  he  had  no  tact.  The 
British  Ministry  had  been  puzzled  what  to  do  with 
the  Emperor,  but  were  not  actuated  by  hatred  against 
him.  In  England  he  would  have  continued  to  be 
an  object  of  dread  for  the  whole  Continent ;  he  would 
have  been  far  too  dangerous  and  powerful  a  force  in 
the  hands  of  the  Opposition. 

The  Emperor  showed  some  emotion  when  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  AlHed  Powers  were  mentioned,  and 
bitterly  complained  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  "  who 
had  gone  down  on  his  knees  to  him  to  marry  his  daugh- 
ter," to  whom  "  he  had  twice  restored  his  capital," 
and  who  now  ungratefully  repaid  these  overwhelming 
benefits  by  retaining  Napoleon's  wife  and  son.  He  also 
fell  foul  of  Alexander,  who  had  covered  himself  with 
glory  by  being  the  Emperor's  friend  ;  against  whom 
he  had  only  waged  "  pohtical  "  warfare,  and  with  whom 
he  had  never  had  personal  differences — an  ingenious 
way  of  describing  the  Moscow  campaign,  with  all  its 
devastating  horrors. 

The  Admiral  is  not  recorded  as  having  made  any 
comment  upon  these  highly  original  references  to 
recent  history.  He  was  a  simple-minded  sailor,  upon 
whom  Napoleon  could  practise  his  blandishments  with 


AGRO-DOLCE  143 

perfect  success.  ^  Las  Cases  says  that  Sir  Pulteney 
conducted  his  part  of  the  interviews  in  such  perfect 
good  taste  that  the  Emperor  discussed  matters  with 
him  with  as  httle  heat  as  if  they  were  entirely  ex- 
traneous to  him. 

We  have  already  mentioned  that  the  servants  at 
Longwood  were  all-  fanatical  devotees  of  Napoleon, 
ready  to  break  any  laws  in  his  service.  ^  This  was 
strikingly  proved,  shortly  after  the  interview  just 
narrated,  when  it  was  discovered  that  one  of  them 
had  resolved  to  assassinate  the  Governor.  The  man 
was  a  Corsican,  Santini  by  name,  and  Corsicans  are 
notoriously  addicted  to  the  vendetta,  and  murder  to 
them  is  (or  was)  quite  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business. 
Santini  had  been  brooding  for  some  time  over  the 
wrongs  to  which  he  imagined  his  master  had  been  sub- 
jected ;  his  hatred  had  also  no  doubt  been  inflamed 
by  the  conversations  he  had  overheard  among  the  suite, 
and  by  Napoleon's  own  violent  invectives  against  the 
Governor.  He  therefore  formed  the  design  of  shooting 
Sir  Hudson  with  a  double-barrelled  gun.  Fortunately, 
he  divulged  his  murderous  intention  to  a  fellow-servant, 
Cipriani,  a  compatriot  of  his.  Cipriani,  however,  was 
apparently  a  degenerate  Corsican,  who  did  not  approve 
of  this  drastic  method  of  redressing  the  Emperor's 
grievances.    He  well  knew  that  his  countryman  was 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  5,  p.  70, 
2  Ibid.  p.  75,  etc. 


144  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

quite  capable  of  carrying  out  his  threat,  and,  greatly 
alarmed,  imparted  the  information  to  several  other 
members  of  the  household,  who  united  in  urging  re- 
monstrances to  the  intending  assassin.  Finding,  how- 
ever, that  this  only  increased  his  rage,  they  were  obhged 
to  divulge  the  matter  to  the  Emperor,  who,  although 
having  been  for  many  years  in  the  wholesale  man- 
slajang  business,  was  not  prepared  to  stoop  to  the 
retail  branch  of  the  trade.  He  sent  for  Santini,  and 
put  his  veto  on  the  project,  pointing  out  that  its  execu- 
tion would  cause  a  great  scandal,  and  render  him  (the 
Emperor)  open  to  the  charge  of  having  instigated  the 
crime.  It  is  probable,  by  the  way,  that  his  approval 
of  the  conduct  of  the  valet  in  insulting  Admiral  Cock- 
burn  may  have  encouraged  Santini  to  proceed  to 
extreme  lengths  against  that  ofl&cer's  still  more  hated 
successor. 


CHAPTER  XV 

MEGALOMANIA 

*  f\^  the  18th  of  August  the  weather  was  very  wet, 
and  kept  Napoleon  indoors,  which  did  not,  in 
all  probability,  add  to  his  good  temper,  and  in  the 
afternoon  the  Governor  unluckily  made  his  appear- 
ance at  Longwood.  As  soon  as  he  was  seen  the  Em- 
peror tried  to  hide  himself  in  the  wood  ;  but  directly 
afterwards  de  Montholon  came  to  announce  that  Sir 
Hudson  and  Admiral  Malcolm  requested  the  honour  of 
an  interview,  and  they  were  received  in  the  garden,  the 
weather  having  cleared.  The  suite  remained  apart  with 
the  Governor's  ofl&cers,  and  the  Emperor  soon  opened  fire, 
walking  between  the  two  Enghshmen,  and  addressing 
himself  to  the  Admiral  and  at  the  Governor.  Napoleon 
went  through  da  ca'po  all  that  he  had  said  at  previous 
audiences,  and  by  this  time  he  must  have  got  his 
part  by  heart.  Sir  Malcolm,  who  did  his  best  as  in- 
termediary, under  dijSicult  circumstances,  endeavoured 
to  molhfy  the  irascible  captive  as  to  the  Governor's 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  HUene,  vol.  iii.  part  5,  p.  267,  etc. 
145  K 


146  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

intentions ;  but  the  Emperor  bej^an  his  provocations 
afresh  with  the  insulting  remark — "  M.  Lowe's  faults 
proceed  from  his  habits  of  life.  He  has  only  com- 
manded foreign  deserters — Piedmontese,  Corsicans, 
Sicihans  and  all  renegades  and  traitors  to  their  country, 
the  dregs  and  scum  of  Europe.  If  he  had  commanded 
men,  Enghshmen,  if  he  were  one  himself,  he  would 
have  proper  respect  for  those  who  are  entitled  to  hon- 
our." He  went  on  to  say  that  there  was  a  moral  cour- 
age as  necessary  as  courage  on  the  field  of  battle  ;  that 
Sir  Hudson  had  not  shown  that  courage  in  his  deahngs 
with  the  exiles ;  dreaming  of  nothing  but  their  escape, 
instead  of  adopting  reasonable,  sensible  and  well-thought- 
out  plans  for  preventing  it.  The  Emperor  added  that 
his  person  was  in  the  power  of  the  wicked,  but  his  soul 
would  remain  as  haughty  and  as  independent  as  when 
he  was  on  his  throne  or  at  the  head  of  four  hundred 
thousand  men,  making  and  unmaking  kings. 

As  to  the  reduction  of  the  Longwood  expenses,  the 
Emperor  replied,  "  All  these  details  are  really  too 
painful  to  me ;  they  are  despicable.  Who  asks  you 
for  anything  ?  Who  requires  you  to  feed  me  ?  When 
you  cut  off  my  supphes,  those  brave  soldiers  yonder — 
pointing  towards  the  camp  of  the  53rd — "  will  take  pity 
on  me ;  I  shall  seat  myself  at  the  table  of  their  gren- 
adiers, and  I  am  certain  they  will  not  repel  the  first, 
the  oldest  soldier  in  Europe,"  He  reproached  the 
Governor  with  having  kept  back  certain  books  which 


MEGALOMANIA  147 

had  been  sent  to  him,  and  when  Lowe  repHed  that 
it  was  because  they  had  been  addressed  to  him  under 
the  title  of  Emperor,  he  hotly  rejoined,  with  ineffable 
vainglory,  "  And  who  has  given  you  the  right  to  deny 
me  that  title  ?  In  a  few  short  years  your  Lord  Castle- 
reagh,  your  Lord  Bathurst  and  all  the  rest  of  them, 
including  you  yourself,  will  be  buried  in  the  dust  of 
oblivion,  or  if  your  names  are  remembered  at  all,  it 
will  be  for  the  indignities  you  have  heaped  upon  me ; 
while  the  Emperor  Napoleon  will,  without  doubt, 
remain  for  ever  the  theme  and  ornament  of  history, 
and  the  pole-star  of  civilized  mankind.  Your  libels 
can  efiect  nothing  against  me ;  you  have  lavished 
millions  on  them,  and  with  what  result  ?  Truth 
pierces  the  densest  clouds  ;  it  blazes  Uke  the  sun  ;  like 
the  sun,  it  is  imperishable." 

The  Emperor,  according  to  Las  Cases,  admitted 
afterwards  that  in  this  conversation  he  had  again  grossly 
and  persistently  ill-treated  Sir  Hudson,  and  he  had 
the  candour  to  avow  that  the  Governor  had  never 
been  wanting  in  courtesy.  He  restricted  himself  to 
muttering  frequently  between  his  teeth  observations 
which  could  not  be  distinguished.  What  a  picture  ! 
On  the  one  side  unbridled  and  ruffianly  insolence,  com- 
bined with  an  egoism  bordering  on  insanity  ;  on  the 
other  an  iron  self-control,  the  almost  superhuman  deter- 
mination of  a  man  of  inflexible  will  to  suffer  no  insult 
to  goad  him  into  retahation. 


148  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

*  Once,  when  the  Governor  said  that  he  had  asked 
to  be  recalled,  the  Emperor  seized  the  remark  to  get 
in  another  sting  of  his  asp-hke  tongue — it  was  the  most 
agreeable  news  he  had  ever  heard  !  The  only  lapse 
of  manners  observed  by  Napoleon — a  pretty  critic 
of  deportment — was  the  Governor's  brusque  with- 
drawal, while  the  Admiral  retired  with  deliberation 
and  many  salaams, 

2  Napoleon  confessed  that,  after  all,  he  was  ashamed 
of  his  behaviour.  "  I  will,"  said  he,  "  never  again  see 
this  man.  He  makes  me  forget  myself.  It  is  beneath 
my  dignity ;  when  I  see  him  before  me,  words  escape 
me  which  would  have  been  inexcusable  at  the  Tuileries. 
If  there  is  any  excuse  for  them  here  it  is  my  being 
under  his  hands  and  in  his  power." 

We  beg  the  reader  to  remember  that  this  description 
of  his  shocldug  and  outrageous  behaviour  was  given  by 
Napoleon  himself  to  one  of  his  most  fanatical  wor- 
shippers ;  it  is  not  the  account  of  an  enemy  ;  and 
we  leave  all  impartial  judges  to  decide  which  of  the 
two  men  showed  to  greater  advantage  during  the 
interview. 

3  With  reference  to  this  interview,  Mr.  Henry  gives 
the  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  himself  from  an 
officer  who  served  a  long  time  at  St.  Helena :    "I 

^   Memorial  de  Sle.  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  5,  p.  269. 

-  Ibid. 

^  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 


MEGALOMANIA  149 

dined  with  Admiral  Sir  Pulteney  Malcolm  the  day  on 
which  the  last  interview  took  place  between  Napoleon 
and  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  Sir  Pulteney  being  present. 
The  Admiral  spoke  freely  of  what  passed  on  the  occa- 
sion, mentioned  the  insulting  expressions  used  by  Na- 
poleon to  the  Governor,  which  had  much  shocked 
Sir  Pulteney,  and  his  most  ungentlemanly  bearing 
throughout  the  interview,  and  bore  ample  testimony 
to  the  cool  rephes  and  admirable  forbearance  of  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe," 

Shortly  after  this  fresh  outbreak  of  scurriUty,  the 
conspirators  laid  their  heads  together  to  concoct  ^  an 
"  official "  reply  to  a  written  communication  of  the 
Governor,  relative  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Alhed 
Powers,  and  the  impossibihty  of  making  ends  meet 
in  the  Longwood  budget.  This  document  is  very 
lengthy,  and  its  substance  was  the  work  of  de  Montho- 
lon,  the  whole  production  being  afterwards  revised 
and  edited  by  Napoleon  in  conjunction  with  the  other 
satellites.  It  is  worth  describing,  because  it  sets 
forth  Anth  much  ingenuity  and  careful  elaboration 
the  "  case  "  for  the  Emperor  against  the  Alhed  Powers. 

It  begins  by  acknowledging  receipt  from  the  Gover- 
nor of  a  copy  of  the  treaty  of  the  2nd  of  August,  1815, 
between  England,  Austria,  Russia  and  Prussia,  for 
the  securing  of  Napoleon's  person. 

The   Emperor   then   formally   protests    against   the 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helme,  vol.  iii.  part  5,  p.  287,  etc. 


150  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

contents  of  the  treaty,  and  asserts  that  he  is  not  a 
prisoner  of  England.  He  repeats  that  after  having 
abdicated  in  favour  of  his  son,  he  voluntarily  and  freely 
surrendered  himself  to  England,  to  live  there  in  retire- 
ment under  the  protection  of  British  law.  His  person 
was  in  the  power  of  England,  but  in  point  of  fact 
it  was  not  then,  and  never  had  been  of  right,  in  the 
power  of  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  Spain  and  Portugal, 
although  all  of  them  were  in  alHance  and  making  war 
in  conjunction  with  Great  Britain.  The  convention 
of  the  2nd  of  August,  1815,  could  have  no  force  in 
justice.  It  was  merely  the  coahtion  of  the  four  greatest 
Powers  of  Europe  for  the  oppression  of  one  man,  a 
coahtion  which  defied  the  opinion  of  all  peoples,  and 
violated  every  sound  principle  of  morality. 

Napoleon  then  reviews  in  turn  his  relations  with  the 
Emperors  of  Austria  and  Russia,  and  the  King  of 
Prussia.  With  regard  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
he  claims  the  right  of  kinship,  and  asserts  that  on  four 
several  occasions  he  generously  allowed  him  to  keep 
his  throne,  and  on  two  occasions  graciously  restored 
his  capital.  As  to  Alexander,  he  recalls  the  treaties 
of  Tilsit  and  Erfurt,  and  his  magnanimity  in  allowing 
him  to  escape  after  Austerhtz.  He  even  has  the  con- 
summate effrontery  to  claim  credit  for  having  incurred 
personal  danger  in  attempting  to  quench  the  fires  of 
Moscow,  thus  preserving  that  capital !  He  tells  the 
King  of  Prussia  that  he  ought  to  be  very  grateful  to 


MEGALOMANIA  151 

him  for  not  having  been  deposed  after  Friedland.     These 
princes,  he  asserts,  had  reproached  him  for  not  having 
surrendered  to   one  of  them.    He  again    enumerates 
the  alleged  reasons  which  prompted  him   to  surrender 
to  England,  and  the  many  other  courses  open  to  him, 
all  of  which  having  already  been  fully  described,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  repeat.     As  to  the  Commissioners,  if 
they  were  at  St.  Helena  to  keep  the  authorities  there 
in  order,  well  and  good,  but  the  Governor  had  stated 
that  they  had  neither  the  right  nor  the  power  to  express 
any  opinion  upon  what  was  done  upon  that  "  rock." 
He   next   proceeds    to    elaborate   his   denmiciations 
of  the  island.     It  had  a  detestable  climate,  most  pre- 
judicial   to    his    health.    Hatred    had    prompted    its 
selection,  as  well  as  the  instructions  given  to  its  officers. 
He  protested  against  being  styled  "  General,"  with  the 
object  of  compelhng  him  to  admit  that  he  had  never 
reigned  in  France.    He^  had  concluded  treaties  with 
England  as  First  Consul,  and  as  Emperor  had  received 
British  Ambassadors,  and  he  had  accredited  Ambassa- 
dors   to    the    Eughsh    Court.    The   name   of    General 
Bonaparte    was    doubtless     supremely    glorious — here 
he  enumerated  his  victories — but  for   seventeen  years 
he  had  borne  the  title  either  of  First  Consul  or  Emperor. 
Then    he   introduces    a   touch    of    Liberahsm,    in    his 
recently  assumed    role    of    universal  hberator    of   the 
oppressed.    Those,  he  says,  who  thought   the  nations 
were  flocks  of  sheep  who,  by  right  divine,  belonged  to 


152     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

certain  privileged  families,  were  not  of  that  century, 
nor  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  English  Parliament, 
which  had  several  times  changed  the  dynasty.  Kings 
were  merely  hereditary  magistrates,  only  existing  for 
the  good  of  the  nations,  and  not  the  nations  for  the 
benefit  of  kings  ;  good,  wholesome  doctrine,  no  doubt, 
but  scarcely  in  harmony  with  his  own  record,  seeing 
that  he  had  been  annexing  and  parcelling  out  king- 
doms without  the  slightest  regard  to  the  wishes  of  their 
peoples.  Prussia,  Spain,  Holland,  Portugal  and  all 
the  other  nations  over  whom  he  had  ridden  rough- 
shod, had  risen  against  his  intolerable  oppression  and 
emancipated  themselves  from  his  yoke.  It  was  the 
revolt  of  the  peoples  that  had  led  to  his  exile  in  St. 
Helena,  not  the  oppression  of  kings. 

He  then  runs  over  the  rest  of  his  wrongs.  The  censor- 
ship over  his  correspondence,  which  he  pretends 
prevented  him  from  hearing  from  his  relatives ;  the 
affair  of  his  letter  to  the  Prince  Regent ;  his  inabihty 
to  enjoy  the  blessing  of  reading  the  Morning  Chronicle 
and  the  Morning  Post.  Recent  books  denied  him  ; 
refusal  to  deliver  certain  other  books  because  they  were 
inscribed  on  the  cover  "  to  Napoleon-le-Grand."  The 
law,  though  iniquitous,  was  founded  on  his  being  a 
prisoner  of  war,  and  prisoners  of  war  were  never 
refused  any  books  they  asked  for.  Here  it  may  be 
repeated,  as  we  have  observed  before,  that  Napoleon, 
although  technically  a  "  prisoner  of  war,"  was  actu- 


MEGALOMANIA  153 

ally  a  prisoner  of  State,  confined  because  it  was  better 
that  one  man  should  be  in  durance  than  that  the  rest 
of  mankind  should  be  plunged  into  anarchy,  bloodshed 
and  ruin. 

Next  he  dwells  on  the  inaccessibility  of  St.  Helena 
and  the  impossibility  of  escaping  from  it,  so  that  the 
limits  imposed  on  his  movements  were  superfluous. 
He  describes  in  the  blackest  colours  the  situation  of 
Longwood,  and  its  discomforts  as  a  residence  ;  nay, 
its  utter  unsuitabihty  for  human  habitation.  He 
complains  of  the  tribulation  caused  him  by  the  erection 
of  the  new  buildings,  and  asserts  that  there  were  many 
deUghtful  houses  in  the  island,  including  Plantation 
House,  which  would  have  been  much  more  to  his  taste. 
(It  will  be  remembered  that  he  had  before  told  the 
Governor  that  all  he  wanted  was  an  executioner  and 
a  cofl&n ;  and  that  in  any  case  his  camp-bed  was 
enough  for  him).  Communication  with  the  inhabit- 
ants had  been  forbidden.  It  was  as  bad  as  being  in 
Ascension.  He  ends  with  a  series  of  personal  charges 
against  the  Governor,  which  have  already  been  men- 
tioned. 

With  respect  to  the  genuineness  of  Napoleon's  com- 
plaints about  Longwood,  one  significant  fact  deserves 
here  to  be  noted.  ^  In  order  to  promote  the  Emperor's 
comfort,  and  secure  him  a  more  agreeable  residence 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  216. 


154  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

during  the  summer  months,  Sir  Hudson  approached 
a  Miss  Mason,  the  owner  of  "  Pleasant  Mount,"  one 
of  the  most  ehgible  houses  in  the  island,  as  regards 
situation,  and  amply  provided  with  shady  plantations 
and  a  good  supply  of  water,  the  alleged  absence 
of  which  was  one  of  the  main  complaints  made  by 
the  exiles  against  Long  wood.  The  lady  expressed 
her  wilhngness  to  let  the  house  at  £100  per  month, 
and  the  Governor  was  prepared  to  take  it.  His  letter 
to  the  "  Grand  Marechal,"  however,  acquainting 
him  with  the  proposed  arrangement,  remained  unan- 
swered ! 

To  Napoleon's  letter,  which  is  a  monument  of  suggestio 
falsi  and  suppressio  veri,  a  postcript  was  added,  acknow- 
ledging a  further  letter  from  the  Governor  just  received. 
In  this  missive  Lowe  had  reckoned  that  a  sum  of 
£20,000  per  annum  would  be  required  to  meet  the  pro- 
digal extravagance  of  the  Longwood  menage.  The 
British  Government  had  fixed  the  allowance  at  £8,000 
per  annum,  but  this  the  Governor  had,  on  his  own  re- 
sponsibility, increased  to  £12,000,  immediately  after 
assuming  his  duties,  an  act  which  speaks  volmnes  for 
his  desire  to  make  things  as  pleasant  as  possible  for 
the  exiles,  and  shows  the  ludicrous  injustice  of  describ- 
ing him  as  a  cruel  and  relentless  oppressor.  Napoleon 
replies  to  this  remonstrance  by  stating  that  it  was  no 
concern  of  himself  and  his  friends  ;  his  table  was  scarcely 
supplied  with  bare  necessaries  ;    the  food  was  all  of 


MEGALOMANIA  155 

the  very  worst  quaKty,  and  four  times  dearer  than  in 
Paris.  As  to  the  Emperor  supplementing  the  expen- 
diture out  of  his  own  pocket,  he  had  no  money,  and 
having  for  a  year  neither  written  nor  received  a  letter 
(this  was  a  falsehood),  he  was  in  complete  ignorance  as 
to  what  was  happening  in  Europe.  Forcibly  transported 
to  that  "rock"  at  2,000  leagues  distance,  without  being 
able  to  receive  or  write  a  letter  (again  untrue),  he  now 
found  himself  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  English 
authorities.  He  had  always  wished,  and  still  wished, 
to  provide  for  all  his  expenses  himseK,  and  he  would 
do  so  conditionally  on  the  abrogation  of  the  order  issued 
to  the  traders  of  the  island,  not  to  engage  in  correspon- 
dence with  hun,  and  the  withdrawal  of  all  surveillance 
over  him  either  by  the  Governor  or  his  agents.  As  soon 
as  his  wants  were  known  in  Europe,  his  friends  would 
supply  the  necessary  funds. 

Lord  Bathurst's  ^  letter,  he  went  on,  which  Sir  Hudson 
had  sent  him,  suggested  some  strange  reflections. 
Did  not  the  Enghsh  Ministers  know  that  the  spectacle 
of  a  great  man  in  adversity  was  the  most  sublime  spec- 
tacle of  all  ?  Did  they  not  reahze  that  Napoleon 
at  St.  Helena,  subjected  to  all  kinds  of  persecutions, 
which  he  endured  with  absolute  serenity  (this  is  sub- 
Kme  in  its  effrontery),  was  grander,  more  sacred,  more 
to  be  revered  than  when  he  was  seated  on  the  first 

^  Secretary  of  State  for  War  and  the  Colonies. 


156  THE  EEAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

throne  in  the  world,  where  he  was  for  so  long  the  arbiter 
of  the  destinies  of  kings  ?  Those  who,  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, lacked  in  respect  for  Napoleon,  only 
stained  their  own  reputation,  and  that  of  the  Nation 
they  represented. 

We  have  given  the  contents  of  this  document  at 
some  length  because  it  presents  in  a  complete  form 
the  Emperor's  whole  "  case,"  and  is  a  perfect  example 
of  his  genius  for  distorting  the  plainest  facts  to  his  own 
advantage.  For  the  objects  for  which  it  was  intended, 
to  further  his  cause  in  Europe  and  damage  the  Governor, 
it  does  not  lack  ingenuity,  and  was  calculated  to 
produce  a  temporary  efiect  on  those  who  were  not  well 
acquainted  Avith  the  truth.  In  these  days,  however, 
when  all  the  facts  so  artfully  garbled  are  fully  known, 
its  only  use  is  to  serve  as  an  example  of  the  methods 
originated  by  Napoleon  himself,  and  since  adopted  by 
all  his  worshippers,  to  build  up  the  "  Napoleonic 
legend,"  and  deceive  the  world  as  to  his  true  character. 
But  the  memorial  defeats  itself — it  is  too  barefaced  in 
its  perversions ;  as,  for  instance,  when  it  claims  grati- 
tude from  Alexander  for  Napoleon's  efforts  to  subdue 
the  flames  of  Moscow.  We  know  the  Emperor  acted 
many  parts  in  his  time.  He  was  conqueror,  king- 
maker (and  unmaker),  law-giver,  statesman,  jacobin, 
democrat,  autocrat  and  other  things  too  nmnerous 
to  mention.  But  Napoleon  as  fireman,  heroically 
endeavouring  to  extinguish  the  conflagration  that  was 


MEGALOMANIA  157 

consuming  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Czars  !    No,  this, 
this  is  too  much. 

^  We  know,  alas  !  from  the  evidence  of  eye-witnesses 
that  his  march  through  Russia  was  lurid  with  the  blaze 
of  burning  villages,  and  that  so  far  from  endeavouring 
to  subdue  the  flames  of  Moscow,  his  energies  were 
directed  solely  to  escaping  with  all  speed  from  the 
Kremhn,  and  placing  himself  beyond  the  reach  of 
danger  in  the  chateau  of  Peterskoe. 

^  Relation  Circonstanciee,  etc.,  Labaume,  p.  212. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

1  "  l'iNTRIGANT  las  cases  " — GOURGAUD. 

rpHE  Governor  promptly  acknowledged  the  foregoing 
memorial.  He  very  properly  ignored  the  long 
catalogue  of  grievances  set  forth  in  the  docmnent, 
which,  being  mainly  directed  against  the  Allied  Powers, 
was  no  concern  of  his.  What  had  Sir  Hudson  to  do 
with  Napoleon's  relations  with  the  Emperors  of  Austria 
and  Russia,  the  capture  of  Vienna  or  the  treaty  of 
Tilsit  ?  What  had  he  to  do  even  with  the  conven- 
tion under  which  the  Emperor  had  been  sent  to  St. 
Helena  ?  The  one  duty  of  the  Governor  was  to  take 
care  that  his  troublesome  captive  did  not  again  break 
loose,  and  this  duty  he  was  determined  to  fulfil,  regard- 
less of  the  brutal  insults  it  entailed  upon  him. 

As  to  the  Emperor's  resolve  not  to  receive  any  visitors 
except  such  as  were  authorized  by  the  "  Grand  Mare- 
chal,"  Sir  Hudson  rephed  that  he  regretted  that  Gen- 
eral   Bonaparte   should    have    found    himself    worried 

*  Journal  Inedit  de  Sainte  HUene,  Baron  Gourgaud,  vol.  i. 
chap.  6,  p.  292. 

158 


"L'INTRIGANT  LAS  CASES"  159 

by  importunate  and  intrusive  callers,  and  he  would 
at  once  see  that  the  vexation  was  stopped. 

^  Among  other  devices  emanating  from  the  fertile 
brains  of  the  Frenchmen  in  support  of  their  campaign 
of  calumny,  was  the  allegation  that  their  food  was  not 
fit  to  eat,  nor  their  wine  to  drink.  In  fact,  it  was 
suggested  by  them  that  the  diet  was  designed  to  shorten 
the  Emperor's  hfe.  That  all  this  was  a  deHberate 
fabrication  is  shown  by  the  description  already  given 
of  the  Longwood  cuisine.  It  was,  however,  a  capital 
idea,  sure  to  go  down  well  in  Europe,  and  in  order  to 
"give  verisimihtude  to  an  otherwise  bald  and  uncon- 
vincing narrative,"  it  was  agreed  that  the  Emperor 
should  begin  to  sell  his  plate,  a  soUd  proof  that  he  was 
driven  to  the  last  extremity  to  save  himself  from  starva- 
tion. This  news,  of  course,  was  duly  conveyed  to 
Europe  to  arouse  indignation  at  the  cruelty  of  Eng- 
land, and  sympathy  for  her  hapless  victim,  and  to 
supply  the  Whig  Opposition  with  fresh  weapons  against 
their  pohtical  opponents. 

That  this  enforced  plate-selluig  was  simply  a  "  put- 
up  job,"  there  is  ample  evidence,  which  will  be  given 
later  on.  ^  When  the  third  lot  had  been  sacrificed, 
Lowe  expressed  his  regret  when  he  heard  of  it,  and 
we  are  informed  that  "  he  plainly  showed  how  much 


Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  137,  etc. 
l/owe  Pafers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  363. 


160  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

afraid  he  was  of  blame  from  his  Government,  and  said 
that  he  would  send  next  day  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
where  he  hoped  to  procure  a  suitable  service."  The 
Emperor  manifested  great  pleasure  at  this,  and  re- 
marked, "As  to  Bertrand,  I  am  sorry  he  has  only 
crockery.  It  was  his  advice  I  followed."  The  whole 
thing  was  plainly  a  move  in  the  general  campaign 
against  Lowe  and  the  British  Ministry,  every  step  in 
which  was  taken  after  careful  deliberations  among 
the  Longwood  conspirators.  In  fact,  whatever  time 
they  could  spare  from  their  eternal  round  of  eating 
and  drinking,  and  quarrelling  among  themselves, 
was  devoted  to  the  concoction  of  some  new  device 
for  annoying  the  Governor  and  discrediting  his  masters. 
Thus  does  Satan  always  find  "  some  mischief  still  for  idle 
hands  to  do." 

*  On  the  1st  of  October,  1816,  the  Governor  notified 
the  Emperor  that  he  wished  to  see  him  in  order  to 
acquaint  him  with  the  instructions  recently  received 
from  London.  Napoleon  repHed  that  he  was  ill,  and 
must  ask  the  Governor  to  impart  the  information 
through  one  of  his  officers.  Sir  Hudson  pressed  his 
demand  for  a  personal  interview,  adding  that  he  desired 
to  discuss  the  matter  with  "  the  General."  "  The  Gen- 
eral "  having  repeated  his  refusal,  the  Governor  with- 
drew, saying  that  he  would  be  glad  to  know  when  the 

1  Memorial  de  Ste,  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  231. 


"L'INTRIGANT  LAS  CASES'*  161 

audience  could  take  place.     The  Emperor  vowed  that 
he  would  never  receive  him  again, 

^  Foiled  in  his  attempt  to  see  Napoleon  himself, 
the  Governor  sent  for  the  "  Grand  Marechal "  to  Plan- 
tation House,  and  informed  him  of  the  instructions 
received  from  England.  Sir  Hudson  expressed  the 
desirability  of  reducing  the  redundant  household  at 
Longwood,  and  finally  decided  to  get  rid  of  the  Pole, 
Capt.  Poniontkowski,  and  three  servants.  Bertrand 
informed  his  friends,  however,  that  Las  Cases  was 
considered  quite  the  most  dangerous  and  objectionable 
of  the  whole  group  ;  and  with  good  reason,  as  he  had 
always  displayed  an  ostentatious  attitude  of  hostility, 
and  had  made  hunself  prominent  as  an  inveterate 
enemy  of  Lowe.  He  began  this  conduct,  indeed,  from 
the  very  first.  It  will  be  remembered  that  when  a 
"  declaration  "  had  been  required  from  all  the  members 
of  the  suite  on  the  Governor's  arrival  at  St.  Helena, 
Las  Cases  had  sent  in  his,  couched  in  highly  insolent 
and  provocative  terms,  and  it  will  not  be  inopportune 
to  give  now  the  text  of  this  foohsh  and  impohtic  docu- 
ment. 

2  "  Declaration.    I,  the  undersigned,  repeat  the  de- 
claration which  I  made  at  Plvmouth,   that  I  desire 


1  Ibid.  p.  242. 

^  Memorial  de  Ste,  HeUne,  vol.  ii.  part  3,  p.  65. 

L 


162     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

to  link  myself  witli  the  destinies  of  the  Emperor  Napo- 
leon ;  to  accompany  and  follow  him  in  order  to  miti- 
gate, to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  the  unjust  treatment 
to  which  he  has  been  subjected  by  an  unparalleled 
violation  of  human  rights,  which  is  all  the  more  dis- 
tressing to  me,  seeing  that  it  was  I  who  conveyed  to  him 
the  offer  of  Captain  Maitland  of  the  Bellerophon,  and 
his  assurance  that  he  had  orders  to  receive  the  Emperor 
and  his  suite  under  the  protection  of  the  British  flag, 
if  that  would  be  agreeable  to  him,  and  to  conduct 
him  to  England. 

"  The  letter  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  to  the  Prince 
Regent  (known  to  all  England),  which  I  communicated 
in  advance  to  Captain  Maitland,  without  his  making 
the  least  remark,  proves  to  the  world,  better  than  any- 
thing I  can  say,  that  the  Emperor  freely  and  volun- 
tarily accepted  this  proffered  hospitality,  and  that  he 
has  in  consequence  been  made  the  dupe  of  his  confi- 
dence and  good  faith. 

"  To-day,  in  spite  of  my  experience  of  the  horrors 
of  a  sojourn  in  the  Island  of  St.  Helena,  so  prejudicial 
to  the  health  of  the  Emperor,  and  all  Europeans,  and 
although  during  the  six  months  we  have  been  in  the 
island  I  have  endured  every  kind  of  privation,  to 
which  I  myself  add  every  day  in  order  to  avoid  as 
much  as  possible  a  lapse  of  the  respect  to  which  my 
rank  and  habits  entitle  me ;  ever  firm  in  my  senti- 
ments, and  determined  henceforth  that  no  apprehension 


"L'INTRIGANT  LAS  CASES"  163 

of  evil,  or  hope  of  good  shall  separate  me  from  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  I  repeat  my  desire  to  reside  with 
him,  submitting  myself  to  the  restrictions  which  may 
arbitrarily  be  imposed  upon  me." 

This  document  was  in  itself  a  declaration  of  war. 
It  repeated  the  false  charge  against  the  English  Govern- 
ment of  having  entrapped  Napoleon  into  a  surrender 
by  false  pretences,  and  very  naturally  those  responsible 
for  the  detention  of  the  Emperor  felt  bound  to  watch 
very  carefully  a  man  who  had  revealed  this  bitter  animus. 
Moreover  Las  Cases  was  the  only  inmate  of  Long- 
wood  who  was  well  versed  in  the  EngUsh  language, 
which  he  could  both  read  and  write  fluently.  He  had 
passed  fourteen  years  in  England,  and  had  formed  in- 
timate relations  there,  and  was  in  frequent  correspon- 
dence with  his  English  friends.  It  was  he  who  was 
the  active  spirit  in  getting  hbels  on  the  Governor  and 
gross  falsehoods  about  the  Emperor's  treatment 
through  to  London,  where  the  venomous  scribes 
of  the  Whig  Party  and  its  factious  representa- 
tives in  Parliament  turned  them  to  good,  or  rather 
bad,  account. 

In  order  fully  to  appreciate  the  mischief  which  a 
man  like  Las  Cases  could  do  in  these  circumstances, 
it  will  be  well  to  consider  the  position  of  affairs  in 
England  at  this  particular  period. 

The  Tor^  Party  was  in  office.    Whatever  one's  views 


164  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

may  be  as  to  the  subsequent  policy  of  that  Party, 
impartial  men  must  admit  that  it  saved  the  Nation 
at  a  supreme  crisis  of  its  fate.  Even  Byron,  who  very 
absurdly  posed  as  a  democrat,  was  in  a  moment  of 
candour  forced  to  "  venerate  our  recent  glories,  and 
wish  they  were  not  owing  to  the  Tories."  By  a 
timely  postponement  of  internal  reforms,  and  a  salu- 
tary suspension  of  the  Constitution,  they  had  averted 
from  England  the  revolutionary  horrors  which  had 
devastated  France.  There  was  a  numerous  faction 
in  this  country,  led  by  Fox  and  Sheridan,  who  were 
in  strong  sympathy  with  the  French  RepubUcans, 
and  were  in  close  correspondence  with  them.  This 
faction,  after  they  had  emancipated  themselves  from 
the  influence  of  Burke  and  all  the  most  illustrious 
Whigs  of  the  day,  proceeded  to  the  verge  of  treason 
in  thi^ir  attacks  upon  the  British  Ministry,  and  made 
no  concealment  of  their  design  completely  to  revolu- 
tionize the  Constitution  on  French  Hnes.  They  found 
themselves  foiled  by  the  splendid  patriotism  of  Burke, 
and  the  firmness  of  the  Government,  kept  to  the  level 
of  their  duty  by  the  consummate  genius  of  that  illus- 
trious man.  To  the  frenzy  of  the  Jacobins  succeeded 
the  glamour  of  Bonaparte's  military  prowess,  and  the 
degenerate  Whigs,  whose  factious  hatred  of  their  political 
foes  had  been  inflamed  to  the  point  of  madness  by  their 
past  failure,  transferred  all  their  enthusiasm  to  this 
pew  enemy  of  their  country.    They  exhausted  their 


"  L'INTRIGANT  LAS  CASES  "  165 

perverted  ingenuity  in  finding  expedients  to  thwart 
the  Government  in  carrying  on  the  stupendous  struggle. 
They  singled  out  Wellington  for  their  special  abuse, 
and  transcended  the  bounds  of  common  decency  in 
their  attacks  upon  him,  while  he  was  with  iron  deter- 
mination driving  the  French,  step  by  step,  out 
of  the  Peninsula.  In  the  Corporation  of  London, 
then  a  nest  of  Whiggery,  his  recall  was  demanded — 
that  same  Corporation  which  afterwards  presented  him 
with  a  sword  of  honour,  when,  in  spite  of  them,  he 
had  emerged  triumphant  as  the  saviour  of  Europe. 
When  the  arch-disturber  of  the  peace  of  the  world 
was  at  last  stricken  down,  they  abandoned  him  as  a 
hero,  to  exalt  him  as  a  martyr ;  and  in  their  news- 
papers falsely  held  him  up  to  the  sympathy  of  mankind 
as  a  man  who  had  first  been  entrapped  and  afterwards 
oppressed.  To  carry  out  this  new  plot  against  the 
welfare  not  only  of  their  own  country  but  of  the  whole 
of  Europe,  they  received  with  avidity  and  published 
broadcast  every  item  of  unauthentic  gossip  sent  home 
by  the  Longwood  conspirators.  Without  verification, 
without  even  inquiry,  they  accepted  all  the  fables 
which  were  concocted  in  that  centre  of  intrigue,  to 
injure  the  fair  fame  of  England,  and  glorify  her  in- 
veterate foe. 

There  was  another  danger  against  which  the  Govern- 
ment had  to  guard.  The  British  are  a  generous  people. 
They   are   erroneously   supposed    to    be   unemotional, 


166     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

whereas  they  have  shown  themselves  on  occasion  one 
of  the  most  emotional  nations  in  history.  What  is 
known  as  the  "  sporting  instinct,"  the  spirit  of  "  fair 
play,"  is  one  of  their  most  pleasing  attributes.  They 
dislike  "  hitting  below  the  belt,"  or  "  kicking  a  man 
when  he  is  down  "  ;  and  even  in  the  most  brutal  of 
their  sports  Uke  to  give  the  quarry  "  law."  This  golden 
vein  the  Whigs,  with  consummate  skill,  worked  for 
all  it  was  worth  in  the  case  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
His  letter  to  the  Prince  Regent,  manifestly  written 
for  that  very  purpose,  made  an  appeal  to  the  generous 
instincts  of  the  British  People.  He  had  been  for  twenty 
years  their  inveterate  foe.  At  last  they  had  beaten 
him,  and  was  it  not  in  accordance  with  the  ethics  of 
the  prize-ring,  then  very  popular  in  England,  for  the 
two  gladiators  to  shake  hands  and  make  friends  at 
the  close  of  a  fight  ? 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  the  Ministry  could 
have  seen  their  way  to  releasing  Napoleon  the  act 
would  have  been  extremely  popular  with  the  multitude. 
But  there  are  times  when  the  rulers  of  a  State  must 
ignore  the  wishes  of  the  mass,  who  are  frequently  unable 
to  see  their  own  true  interests,  and  allow  their  generous 
emotions  to  override  the  plain  dictates  of  reason  and 
common  sense.  The  Ministry  saw  their  duty  clearly. 
They  wisely  declined  to  obtain  a  passing  popularity 
by  incurring  a  terrible  risk.  They  knew  only  too  well 
that  if  Napoleon  once  estabhshed  himself,  uncontrolled, 


"L'INTRIGANT  LAS  CASES"  167 

either  in  Europe  or  America,  the  world  would  be  em- 
broiled in  intrigues,  which,  even  if  they  never  material- 
ized, would  keep  open  a  running  sore  of  unrest  and 
apprehension  in  the  whole  body  politic.  Besides,  they 
were  bound  by  solemn  treaty  with  the  AlHed  Powers, 
as  whose  mandatories  they  were  acting. 

They  saw,  however,  the  danger  involved  in  the  active 
Bonapartist  agitation,  which,  fed  by  falsehoods  from 
St.  Helena,  had  its  ramifications  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Worked  upon  by  those  cunning  concoctions,  the  British 
people  might  get  out  of  hand,  and  it  was  therefore 
the  bounden  duty  of  the  Government  to  do  all  in  its 
power  to  cut  off  the  supply  at  the  source.  All  the 
measures  taken  to  this  end  were  in  our  opinion  not  only 
justifiable  but  imperatively  necessary. 

It  is  easy  enough  in  these  days,  separated  by  nearly 
a  century  from  that  time  of  national  danger,  for  poets 
and  poetesses  and  other  neurotic  persons  to  condemn 
the  want  of  "  chivalry  "  displayed  by  Enghsh  statesmen 
to  their  fallen  foe.  Those  who  had  Uved  through 
Austerhtz,  Jena,  Friedland,  Moscow  and  Trafalgar, 
and  in  whose  ears  the  thunder  of  the  guns  at  Waterloo 
may  be  said  to  have  been  still  reverberating,  are  not 
to  be  judged  in  that  way.  They  only  did  what  was 
their  plain  duty.  They  pursued  the  only  policy  that 
could  have  secured  beyond  all  doubt  the  general  per- 
manent peace  of  the  world. 

These  considerations  make  it  obvious  that  a  person 


iG8  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

of  Las  Cases'  antecedents  and  connections  was  a  very 
undesirable  member  of  Napoleon's  household,  and  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  was,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  the  first  to  be  removed  from  the  island. 


A 


CHAPTER  XVII 

napoleon's  ignorance  of  ENGLAND 

S  we  have  arrested  the  course  of  our  narrative  to 


consider  the  position  of  affairs  in  England  at 
the  period  of  which  we  write,  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  glance  for  a  moment  at  Napoleon's  ideas  of 
England,  especially  as  it  was  his  ignorance  of  our  country 
and  the  character  of  its  inhabitants  that  mainly  led 
to  his  downfall.  His  outlook  was  so  entirely  foreign 
to  the  spirit  of  the  EngUsh  people  that  he  utterly  failed 
to  understand  the  motives  which  lay  at  the  root  of 
their  obstinate  and  unbending  resistance  to  his  power. 
This  appears  very  strongly  in  some  remarks  he  made 
at  St.  Helena  on  the  pohcy  which  was  adopted  by 
the  British  Ministry  at  the  general  settlement  of 
1815. 

^  "  After  twenty  years  of  war,"  said  the  Emperor, 
"  after  such  an  enormous  expenditure  of  treasure,  such 
immense  subsidies  contributed  to  the  common  cause, 
after  a  triumph   beyond   all    expectations,   what   has 

^  Memorial  de  Stc.  HUene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  81,  etc. 
169 


170  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

England  gained  ?  Castlereagh  had  the  whole  Con- 
tinent at  his  feet ;  ^^^hat  great  advantages,  what  equit- 
able recompense  has  he  obtained  for  his  country  ? 
He  has  made  peace  as  if  he  had  been  vanquished.  I 
could  not  have  treated  him  worse  had  I  been  victorious. 
Two  powerful  motives  prompted  England  during  the 
struggle — ^the  national  interest  and  hatred  of  me.  In 
the  moment  of  triumph  the  violence  of  the  one  should 
have  obliterated  the  other.  Thousands  of  years  will 
elapse  before  such  an  opportunity  will  occur  again  for 
securing  the  welfare — ^the  true  greatness  of  England. 
Was  it  Castlereagh's  corruption  or  ignorance  ?  He 
has  distributed  the  spoils  with  open  hand  to  the  sove- 
reigns of  the  Continent,  and  has  reserved  nothing  for 
his  own  country,  and  runs  the  risk  of  being  accused 
as  their  creature  rather  than  their  ally.  He  has  given 
away  immense  territories.  Russia,  Prussia,  and  Austria 
have  gained  milUons  of  new  population.  Where  do 
we  find  England's  equivalent  ?  She,  who  nevertheless 
was  the  soul  of  the  struggle ;  she  who  had  borne  all 
the  cost,  and  is  already  reaping  the  fruit  of  Continental 
gratitude.  My  Continental  system  is  being  continued ; 
her  manufactures  are  excluded,  while  she  might  have 
insisted  that  free  and  independent  seaports  should  have 
hned  the  coasts — such  as  Dantzig,  Hamburg,  Antwerp, 
Dunkirk,  Genoa  and  others — which  would  have  been 
the  entrepots  of  her  manufactures,  with  which  she  could 
have  flooded  Europe  in  spite  of  all  the  custom-houses 


NAPOLEON'S  IGNORANCE  OF  ENGLAND  171 

in  the  world.  She  had  the  right  and  the  need  of  doing 
this  ;  her  demands  would  have  been  just,  and  who 
could  have  prevented  her  at  the  moment  of  victory  ? 
Why  create  for  herseK  an  embarrassment,  and  in  time 
a  natural  enemy,  by  uniting  Belgium  and  Holland, 
when  she  might  have  secured  two  great  outlets  for  her 
commerce  by  keeping  them  apart  ?  Holland,  which 
has  no  manufactures,  was  the  natural  market  for  those 
of  England  ;  and  Belgium,  as  an  Enghsh  colony,  under 
an  Enghsh  prince,  would  have  been  the  gate  through 
which  she  could  have  poured  her  goods  into  France 
and  Germany.  Why  were  not  Spain  and  Portugal 
bound  to  her  by  a  treaty  of  commerce  for  a  long  term 
of  years,  which  would  have  amply  recouped  her  for 
the  enormous  cost  of  their  deUverance,  and  which  could 
have  been  obtained  imder  the  threat  of  setting  free 
their  Colonies  ?  Why  were  no  advantages  exacted  in 
the  Baltic  and  the  various  States  of  Italy  ?  After 
having  struggled  so  long  for  the  supremacy  of  the  seas, 
why  fail  to  insist  upon  its  benefits  when  they  were 
hers  by  the  force  of  events  ?  Was  it  due  to  the  fear  that 
while  approving  the  usurpation  of  others,  hers  might 
be  refused  ?  If  so,  who  could  have  opposed  her  ?  She 
may  even  now  regret  her  pohcy  when  too  late.  But 
she  has  missed  the  psychological  moment,  and  it  will 
never  return.  Castlereagh  is  the  only  man  who  could 
have  acted  thus  ;  he  has  been  the  tool  of  the  Holy 
Alhance,  and  future  ages  will  curse  him.    The  Lauder- 


172  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

dales,  the  Grenvilles,  the  Wellesleys  and  others  would 
have  taken  a  very  different  course,  because  they  would 
have  shown  themselves  patriots." 

The  fact  is  that  Napoleon  judged  England  by  his 
own  standard.  He  could  not  conceive  of  statesmen 
acting  from  any  other  motive  than  either  to  acquire 
riches  and  glory  for  themselves,  or  territory  for  their 
country.  England  maintained  the  struggle  against 
Napoleon,  not  from  a  desire  for  territorial  expansion, 
but  for  the  preservation  of  her  national  existence ; 
for  she  knew  that  if  Europe  were  welded  into  one  homo- 
geneous empire  under  Napoleon's  rule,  her  national 
existence  would  not  be  worth  many  years'  purchase. 
The  British  people  valued  above  all  other  earthly 
things  their  insular  independence ;  their  venerable 
laws,  and  their  glorious  language.  They  had  no  fancy 
for  becoming  a  mere  appanage  of  an  imperial  system, 
the  centre  of  which  would  be  Paris,  with  London  reduced 
to  the  level  of  a  provincial  town.  The  common  and 
statute  law  of  England  was  good  enough  for  them,  and 
they  preferred  it  to  all  the  cut-and-dried  symmetry 
of  the  Code  Napoleon.  It  was  because  they  were 
determined  to  preserve  this  glorious  inheritance, 
derived  from  their  forefathers,  that  they  never  rested 
until  they  had  brought  the  French  Colossus  to  his 
knees. 

The  British  people  had  also  learnt  that  their  inde- 
pendence could  only  be  secured  by  their  supremacy 


NAPOLEON'S  IGNORANCE  OF  ENGLAND  173 

on  the  seas,  and  if  they  had  gained  nothing  else  by 
the  tremendous  struggle,  this  one  achievement  amply 
repaid  them  for  all  the  blood  they  had  shed  and  the 
treasure  they  had  lavished.  The  really  decisive  battle 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars  was  Trafalgar  and  not  Waterloo. 
Nelson's  victory  settled  the  question  of  maritime  su- 
premacy. It  sealed  the  fate  of  the  French  in  Spain, 
and  the  Uberation  of  the  Peninsula  Ht  up  a  fire  of 
patriotism  which  blazed  across  Europe  from  Lisbon 
to  Moscow,  and  consumed  Napoleon's  system  in  its 
flames. 

The  lesson  then  learnt  has  never  been  forgotten. 
To  remain  supreme  upon  the  ocean,  no  matter  from 
what  quarter  that  supremacy  may  be  menaced,  is 
still  the  settled  purpose  of  the  British  race.  It  is  the 
one  question  before  which  party  divisions  disappear, 
or  rather  in  respect  of  which  there  is  only  one  party — 
the  entire  nation. 

Having  achieved  this  great  result  by  her  twenty 
years  of  warfare,  and  having  removed  to  a  distance  of 
2,000  leagues  the  man  who  threatened  her  national 
existence,  England  could  afford  with  good-humoured 
indifierence  to  throw  to  her  allies  the  debris  of  the 
Napoleonic  Empire. 

Napoleon,  that  "  great  self-seeker,  tramphng  on  the 
right,"  was  utterly  unable  to  understand  the  reasons 
for  England's  undying  hostility  to  him  and  his  schemes. 
With  him  "  glory "  and  personal  ambition  were  th^ 


174     THE   REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

only  objects  to  be  pursued,  and  in  their  pursuit  he  was 
utterly  indifferent  to  the  means  he  adopted,  whether 
it  was  the  effusion  of  oceans  of  blood  or  the  most  un 
scrupulous  trickery  and  dupHcity. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  NEW  "  DECLARATION  " 

rriHE  new  instructions  which,  as  we  have  said,  had 
been  received  by  the  Governor,  and  explained 
by  him  to  the  exiles  through  the  "  Grand  Marechal," 
varied  in  several  respects  from  those  previously  in  force, 
and  made  it  necessary  to  exact  a  fresh  "  declaration  " 
from  each  of  the  suite  to  conform  to  the  new  regulations. 
This  may  appear  on  the  face  of  it  a  superfluous  re- 
quirement, but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Long- 
wood  coterie  had  by  now  manifested  their  aggressive 
hostihty  not  only  to  the  British  Government  but  to 
the  Governor  himself,  and  had  shown  their  maUgnant 
ingenuity  for  manufacturing  causes  of  complaint.  It 
was,  therefore,  quite  hkely  that  they  might  have  re- 
sisted the  new  rules  on  the  pretext  that  they  had  only 
agreed  to  be  bound  by  the  old,  and  it  was  to  meet  this 
contingency  that  another  declaration  of  acceptance  was 
required  of  them. 

1  The  document  was  couched  in  the  following  terms : — 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  278, 
175 


176  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

"  I,  the  undersigned,  hereby  declare  that  it  is  my  wish 
to  remain  in  the  Island  of  St.  Helena,  and  to  participate 
in  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  General  Bonaparte, 
personally." 

These  restrictions  consisted  of  a  definition  of  the 
limits  within  which  the  Emperor  would  be  allowed 
free  movement ;  the  placing  of  sentinels  at  points  be- 
yond which  no  person  would  be  allowed  to  approach 
the  house  or  garden  of  Longwood  without  the  per- 
mission of  the  Governor  ;  the  notification  of  the  officer- 
in-charge  of  Napoleon's  intention  to  go  beyond  certain 
places  when  taking  exercise  on  horseback ;  it  was 
added  that  no  obstacle  would  be  put  in  his  way,  pro- 
vided this  notification  were  given.  If  Napoleon  desired 
to  extend  his  walks  in  any  other  direction,  he  must  be 
accompanied  by  an  officer  of  the  Governor's  staff,  or 
if  there  was  not  time  to  arrange  this,  then  the  officer 
attached  to  Longwood  w^ould  midertake  this  duty. 
The  regulations  already  in  force  to  prevent  communica- 
tions with  all  persons  whatsoever  without  the  Governor's 
permission,  must  be  strictly  observed ;  Napoleon  must 
therefore  abstain  from  entering  any  house,  or  engaging 
in  conversation  with  any  one  he  might  encounter, 
except  in  the  presence  of  a  British  officer.  All  persons 
who,  with  the  consent  of  Napoleon,  might  receive  per- 
mits from  the  Governor  to  visit  him,  must,  notwith- 
standing such  permission,  refrain  from  communicating 


THE  NEW  "DECLARATION"  177 

with  any  member  of  the  suite,  unless  the  permit  ex- 
pressly allowed  it.  At  sunset  the  boundaries  of  the 
garden  of  Longwood  would  be  considered  to  constitute 
the  limits,  and  at  that  hour  sentries  would  be  placed 
aroimd  it,  but  so  as  not  to  inconvenience  Napoleon, 
by  watching  his  person,  should  he  desire  to  continue 
his  promenade  after  that  hour.  During  the  night  the 
sentries  were  to  be  placed  close  to  the  house,  as  was 
the  custom  formerly,  and  all  admission  would  be  pre- 
vented until  the  sentries  were  withdrawn  from  the 
house  and  garden  next  morning.  All  letters  for  Long- 
wood  to  be  placed  by  the  Governor  in  a  sealed  enve- 
lope, and  sent  to  the  officer  on  duty,  to  be  dehvered 
unopened  to  the  officer  of  Napoleon's  suite  to  whom  it 
was  addressed,  so  that  the  recipient  could  be  assured 
that  no  person  other  than  the  Governor  knew  its 
contents. 

These  regulations  will  no  doubt  appear  stringent 
and  severe,  and  so  no  doubt  they  were.  But  in  con- 
sidering them  we  must  remember  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  originated.  They  were  based  upon  the 
principle  laid  down  by  the  British  Ministry  when  it 
was  first  decided  to  ensure  the  permanent  peace  of  the 
world  by  sending  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena.  The  Emperor 
was  to  be  treated  with  all  the  indulgence  that  might 
be  consistent  with  the  absolute  security  of  his  person. 
When  he  was  first  estabhshed  on  the  island  comparative 
freedom  was  allowed  him  ;  but  when  it  was  discovered 

M 


178  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

that  he  had  declared  war  to  the  knife  with  the  British 
Government  and  its  representative,  and  that  his  inter- 
views with  visitors  were  perverted  to  the  dissemination 
of  all  sorts  of  falsehoods,  with  the  object  of  fomenting 
an  agitation  in  Europe,  and  that  hbels  and  slanders 
were  being  smuggled  out  of  the  island  with  the  same 
design,  the  situation  was  materially  altered,  and  drastic 
measures  had  to  be  taken  to  put  a  stop  to  the  nuisance. 
The  consiunmate  abiHty  with  which  Napoleon  deluded 
his  visitors  into  the  belief  that  he  was  the  victim  of 
perfidy  and  oppression,  and  the  malign  activity  of 
Las  Cases  in  spreading  the  same  delusion  through  his 
EngUsh  connections,  left  the  Government  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  take  the  most  decided  steps  to  nip  this  con- 
spiracy in  the  bud.  Hence  it  was  that  the  original 
regulations  had  to  be  modified,  and  another  code 
substituted  for  them  ;  but  the  responsibiUty  for  its 
increased  severity  must  rest  upon  Napoleon  and 
his  suite,  whose  conduct  had  made  it  absolutely 
necessary. 

1  The  exiles  held  a  conclave  to  consider  their  line  of 
action  in  face  of  this  new  mecJiancete — whether  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  illustrious  Pistol,  after  most 
horribly  swearing,  and  sign  the  document,  or  as  an 
alternative,  suffer  expulsion  from  the  island.  The 
Emperor,"  indignant  at  the  vexations  with  which  they 
had  already  been  overwhelmed  on  his  account,"  urged 
*  Memorial  de  Ste,  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p,  281, 


THE  NEW  "DECLARATION"  179 

them  rather  to  abandon  him  than  to  submit,  and  to 
return  to  Europe  to  bear  witness  to  the  "  Uving  tomb  " 
to  which  they  had  found  themselves  consigned.  It  is 
a  pity  that  they  did  not  persist  in  their  refusal,  as  a 
break-up  of  the  coterie  would  have  greatly  simplified 
the  duty  of  the  British  Government  and  their  agent,  and 
would  doubtless  have  made  it  possible  to  relax  somewhat 
the  restrictions,  which,  in  existing  circumstances,  they 
were  reluctantly  compelled  to  impose  upon  Napoleon. 

However,  they  finally  decided  to  sign  the  declara- 
tion, substituting  in  it,  however,  the  words  "  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  "  for  those  of  "  General  Bonaparte." 
As  this  would  have  been,  on  the  Governor's  part,  a 
recognition  of  the  title  which  he  was  specifically  in- 
structed not  to  recognize  in  any  shape  or  form,  the 
declarations  were  returned,  with  a  request  that  they 
should  be  sent  in  exactly  in  the  terms  drawn  up  by  him. 

^  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  created  a  veritable 
explosion  of  rage  in  the  French  camp,  and  the  Emperor 
deHvered  himself  on  the  matter  as  follows.  "  The  out- 
rages to  which  those  who  are  around  me  are  daily  sub- 
jected, and  which,  it  seems,  are  to  be  redoubled  in 
future,  constitute  a  spectacle  which  I  am  unable  longer 
to  endure.  You  must  leave  me  ;  I  cannot  bear  that 
you  should  submit  yourselves  to  such  restrictions.  I 
prefer  to  remain  alone.  Go,  then,  to  Europe,  where  you 
will  pubHsh  the  odious  methods  adopted  towards  me ; 
^  Memorial  de  Ste,  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  881. 


ISO    THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

and  proclaim  how  you  have  seen  me  descending  alive 
into  the  grave.  Not  only  do  I  not  wish  you  to  sign  this 
declaration,  but  I  forbid  you  to  do  so.  .  .  .  If  they 
expel  you  for  refusing  to  comply  with  such  an  idiotic 
formality,  they  are  capable,  later  on,  of  doing  so  for 
even  a  more  frivolous  reason.  They  want  to  get  rid 
of  you  one  by  one.  I  prefer  that  you  should  go  en 
masse ;  for  perhaps  there  may  be  advantage  to  be 
gained  by  such  a  course." 

Great  advantage,  unquestionably ;  first  in  ridding 
himself  of  his  quarrelsome  friends,  whose  jealousies, 
as  we  have  seen,  poisoned  his  existence ;  and  next, 
in  letting  loose  in  Europe  a  band  of  fanatical  apostles, 
who  should  preach  a  Napoleonic  crusade  with  all  the 
fervour  and  frenzy  of  Peter  the  Hermit. 

^However,  the  conference  was  interrupted  by  the 
announcement  that  the  Governor  was  at  Bertrand's 
house,  about  fifty  yards  from  Longwood,  where  he 
requested  the  pleasure  of  an  interview  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  suite.  The  "  Grand  Marechal "  saw  the 
Governor  tete-d-tete,  and  refused  to  sign  the  declara- 
tion ;  he  conveyed  an  intimation  that  Sir  Hudson 
would  prefer  to  see  the  other  three  together.  Las 
Cases,  however,  presented  himself  alone. 

2  He  had  understood  that  the  Governor  was  much 
incensed  with  him,  and  arrived  therefore  with  all  his 

^  Memorial  de  Sle.  liHene,  vol.  iii.  pari  6,  p.  284. 
2  Jbid.  p.  285, 


THE  NEW  "DECLARATION"  181 

war-paint  on.  But,  to  his  surprise,  Sir  Hudson  con- 
ducted him,  with  marked  politeness,  into  an  inner 
chamber,  leaving  the  officers  of  his  suite  in  an  anteroom . 
Here  Lowe  told  him  that  he  would  await  the  arrival 
of  de  Montholon  and  Gourgaud ;  but  on  Las  Cases  asking 
him  if  he  had  any  objection  to  discussing  matters  with 
him  in  private,  the  Governor  rephed  that  he  had  none 
in  the  world,  and  the  conversation  proceeded.  Lowe 
asked  Las  Cases  if  he  was  aware  of  the  decision  taken 
by  Bertrand,  to  which  the  Count  replied  that  he  was, 
and  that  he  intended  to  make  the  same  answer.  He 
could  not,  continued  he,  understand  why  so  much 
importance  was  attached  to  a  mere  formahty,  which 
was  as  distasteful  to  them  as  it  appeared  useless  to 
the  Government.  "  It  is  not  in  my  power,"  replied  the 
Governor,  "  to  make  the  alteration  you  desire.  I  am 
instructed  to  require  your  signature  to  the  document, 
exactly  as  I  have  written  it,  and  I,  as  an  English  officer, 
cannot  therefore  agree  to  vary  it  in  accordance  with 
your  wishes."  Las  Cases  rejoined  that  he  was  not 
aware  of  this  fact ;  Lowe,  as  an  Enghshman,  was 
obliged  to  exact  this  condition ;  he  as  a  Frenchman,  must 
sign  the  declaration  in  his  language,  that  is,  he  must 
translate  it.  Let  the  Governor  dictate  the  phrase  to 
which  he  (Las  Cases)  must  affix  his  signature,  and  he 
would  do  his  best  to  render  it  in  French.  "  Observe," 
said  the  Count,  "how  perfectly  frank  I  am,  and  form 
your  own  opinion  as  to  whether  I  wish  to  create  em- 


182  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

barrassments."  The  Governor,  we  are  told,  seemed 
much  struck  with  this  idea.  Las  Cases  then  dwelt  upon 
the  distress  occasioned  to  the  suite  by  what  was,  after 
all,  a  quibble  over  words.  To  insist  would  make  their 
position  frightful  {aff reuse).  It  would  drive  them  to 
veritable  despair.  To  separate  from  the  Emperor 
would  be  worse  than  death,  but  could  he,  on  the  other 
hand,  degrade  him  by  his  own  act  ?  Sir  Hudson, 
who  by  this  time  must  have  reached  the  limit  of  his 
patience,  seeing  that  no  amount  of  argument  could 
reUeve  him  from  the  necessity  of  carrying  out  his 
instructions,  here  with  some  asperity  referred  to  the 
gross  ill-treatment  he  himself  had  been  subjected  to,  and 
observed  that  he  recognized  no  title  to  respect  except 
the  possession  of  moral  quaUties.  "  In  that  case," 
energetically  rephed  the  Count,  "  the  Emperor  could 
with  safety  discard  all  his  titles,  and  would  gain  thereby 
the  right  to  be  treated  by  all  the  Universe  on  that 
basis."  For  some  time  longer  Las  Cases  continued  his 
expostulations ;  the  Governor  Ustened  to  him  patiently, 
making  but  few  remarks,  and  then  terminated  the  inter- 
view. 

De  Montholon  and  Gourgaud  then  had  their  turn, 
after  which  the  Emperor  was  informed  of  what  had 
occurred,  when  he  repeated  in  substance  what  he  had 
previously  said. 

^  While  the  whole  party  were  discussing  the  state  of 
^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helme,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  289. 


THE  NEW  "  DECLAKATION  "  183 

affairs  in  the  garden,  two  strangers  appeared  close  at 
hand.  The  Emperor  sent  to  know  who  they  were, 
and  they  proved  to  belong  to  a  ship  which  was  saiUng 
next  day  for  Europe.  The  Emperor  inquired  which 
of  the  authorities  they  would  see  on  arrivmg  in  London, 
and  on  the  reply  being  Lord  Bathurst,  he  seized  the 
golden  opportunity  of  asking  them  to  deUver  the 
following  message  to  his  lordship  : 

"  Tell  him  that  I  am  being  treated  abominably  by 
his  orders,  and  that  he  has  here  an  agent  who  fulfils 
them  to  the  letter.  If  he  intends  to  rid  himself  of 
me,  he  had  better  despatch  me  at  once,  and  not  kill 
me  by  inches.  Nothing  could  be  more  barbarous. 
There  is  nothing  EngUsh  in  all  this.  I  attribute  it  to  a 
few  individuals.  I  esteem  the  Prince  Regent,  the 
bulk  of  the  Ministry  and  the  British  nation  too  much  to 
hold  them  responsible.  However,  come  what  may,  my 
body  alone  is  in  the  power  of  evil  men  ;  my  soul  reigns 
supreme  ;  even  from  the  depths  of  a  dungeon  it  can 
soar  to  Heaven." 

It  is  not  known  whether  his  lordship  ever  received 
this  bombastic  communication,  which  was,  in  any  case, 
not  hkely  to  make  much  impression  on  the  British  War 
Office,  or  materially  alter  the  determination  of  the 
Allied  Powers  to  keep  Napoleon  out  of  mischief. 

^  That  evening,  during  dinner,  the  Governor  informed 
the  "  Grand  Marechal "  by  letter  that  in  view  of  the 
^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  290. 


184  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

general  refusal  to  sign  the  declaration,  he  would  at 
once  give  orders  for  the  immediate  removal  of  every 
member  of  the  suite  to  Europe. 

This  produced  a  wonderful  effect.  The  declaration 
was  at  once  signed  by  Las  Cases,  de  Montholon  and 
Gourgaud,  and  sent  post-haste  to  the  Governor  through 
the  British  ofl&cer  on  duty  at  Longwood,  while  a  letter 
to  Bertrand  informed  that  dignitary  of  the  uncondi- 
tional surrender, 

*  In  his  Voice  from  St.  Helena,  O'Meara  gives  a  very 
brief  description  of  this  scene.  He  says  the  ultimatum 
produced  great  grief  and  consternation  among  the 
inmates  of  Longwood,  who,  without  the  knowledge 
of  Napoleon,  waited  on  Captain  Poppleton  (the  officer 
on  duty  at  Longwood)  after  midnight,  and  signed  the 
obnoxious  paper — with  the  exception  of  Santini,  who 
vowed  he  would  never  do  so,  because  it  did  not  describe 
Napoleon  as  "  the  Emperor." 

But  now  let  us  see  how  the  veracious  surgeon  de- 
scribes the  occurrence  to  his  fidus  Achates,  Finlaison. 
Writing  with  his  accustomed  frankness,  on  the  23rd 
of  December,  1816,  he  says  : 

"  This  threw  them  into  the  greatest  consternation, 
and  notwithstanding  all  the  vapouring  of  the  morning, 
and  assertions  of  honour  before  life,  accompanied  by 
gestures,  such  as  baring  their  bosoms,  and  protesting 
that  a  dagger  should  be  passed  through  hearts,  faith- 
1  A  Voice  from  Ste.  Helena,  O'Meara,  vol.  i.  p.  155. 


THE  NEW  "DECLARATION"  185 

ful  even  in  death,  and  which,  even  in  the  last  agonies, 
would  vibrate  only  for  the  Emperor,  ere  they  would  sign 
his  degradation,  Messrs.  Las  Cases  and  Gourgaud  came 
into  Poppleton's  room  in  the  dead  of  night,  with  crest- 
fallen countenances,  streaming  eyes,  and  the  declara- 
tions, signed,  in  their  hands,  imploring  him  to  send  them 
at  that  miseasonable  hour  of  the  night  to  the  Governor, 
so  much  had  the  fear  of  being  sent  away  bewildered 
their  intellects.  Next  morning  at  five,  de  Montholon 
went  in  to  Poppleton  again,  begging  him  to  hurry 
the  documents  away,  fancying  every  moment  that  he 
saw  an  officer  and  party  in  the  road  to  bundle  them  on 
board  the  ship." 

This  highly-coloured  and  very  ill-natured  descrip- 
tion would  appear  to  be  a  gross  exaggeration,  as  Captain 
Poppleton's  account  of  the  affair  is  very  difierent,  con- 
taining nothing  about  the  hysterical  display  made  by  the 
exiles.  It  is  only  significant  of  the  despicable  behaviour 
of  O'Meara,  who,  while  posing  as  the  affectionate  friend 
of  Napoleon  and  his  suite,  was  thus  lampooning  them 
in  his  private  correspondence,  and  shows  what  credit 
should  be  attached  to  his  subsequent  Hbels  on  the 
Governor. 

As  a  conclusion  to  this  affair,  Napoleon  sent  the 
following  "  Note  "  to  the  Governor  : 

*  "  I    am    informed  that  in  the  course  of  the  con- 
versation between  General  Lowe  and  several  of  my 
^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iii.  part  6,  p.  300. 


18G  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

suite,  things  were  said  which  do  not  accord  with  my 
ideas.  I  placed  my  abdication  in  the  hands  of  the 
national  representatives  in  favour  of  my  son.  I  sought 
refuge  in  England,  in  the  full  confidence  that  I  should 
be  allowed  to  live  there,  or  in  America,  in  complete 
retirement,  and  under  the  name  of  one  of  my  colonels 
who  was  killed  by  my  side,  determined  to  remain 
aloof  from  all  political  affairs  of  any  description  what- 
ever. 

"  On  my  arrival  on  board  the  Northumberland,  I  was 
told  I  was  a  prisoner  of  war,  that  I  was  to  be  transported 
to  the  other  side  of  the  Une,  and  that  I  was  to  be  styled 
General  Bonaparte.  I  have  a  right  to  bear  openly  my 
title  of  Emperor  Napoleon,  in  opposition  to  the  title 
of  General  Bonaparte,  which  it  is  sought  to  foist  upon 
me. 

"  Seven  or  eight  months  ago  the  Count  de  Montholon 
proposed  to  avoid  certain  trifling  difficulties  which 
were  continually  arising  by  adopting  some  ordinary 
name.  The  Admiral  considered  it  his  duty  to  refer 
the  question  to  London,  and  there  the  matter  rests. 

"  I  am  now  given  a  name  which  has  this  advantage, 
that  it  does  not  falsify  the  past,  but  it  is  not  in  accordance 
with  the  usages  of  Society.  I  am  at  all  times  wilhng  to 
assume  a  name  which  conforms  to  ordinary  custom, 
and  I  repeat  that  when  it  is  deemed  fit  to  terminate 
this  cruel  exile,  I  desire  to  remain  a  complete  stranger 
to  politics,  no  matter    what    occurs    in    the    world. 


THE  NEW  "DECLARATION"  187 

That  is  my  idea.    Anything  said  to  the  contrary  is 
opposed  to   the  truth." 

The  fatal  defect  of  this  document  is  that  the  state- 
ments contained  in  it  are  not  true.  So  far  from  it  having 
been  the  writer's  intention  to  abstain  entirely  from 
pohtics,  we  have  shown,  from  his  own  utterances  at 
St.  Helena,  the  course  he  had  marked  out  for  himself  in 
the  event  of  his  being  allowed  to  Uve  either  in  England 
or  in  the  United  States.  His  residence  was  to  be  made 
a  centre  of  intrigue,  whence  an  agitation  was  to  be 
carried  en  against  the  order  of  things  estabUshed  at 
the  peace  of  1815.  The  Powers  of  Europe  knew  their 
man  well,  after  twenty  years'  experience,  and  how 
impossible  it  was  that  such  a  daring,  restless  spirit 
should  ever  settle  down  into  peaceful  obscurity.  His 
own  words  have  proved  to  posterity  the  inexorable 
necessity  of  the  poUcy  adopted  with  regard  to  him. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  the  "  Declaration," 
it  will  be  as  well  to  consider  the  conduct  of  Napoleon's 
suite  in  that  connection.  Their  case  differs  entirely 
from  that  of  Napoleon  himself.  He  had  been  com- 
pulsorily  segregated  at  St.  Helena  owing  to  the  impera- 
tive necessity  of  securing  the  peace  of  the  world ; 
and  he  was  therefore  under  no  obHgation  to  acquiesce 
in  his  detention  or  to  abstain  from  attempts  to  escape. 
On  the  other  hand,  his  attendants  had  gone  into  volun- 
tary exile.  At  their  own  request  the  British  Govern- 
ment permitted  them  to  accompany  their   master  to 


188  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

the  island ;  but  only  on  certain  conditions,  embodied 
in  tlie  Declaration,  which  each  of  them  had  signed. 
They  were  at  perfect  hberty  either  to  remain  in  Europe, 
or  to  go  to  St.  Helena  on  the  promise  faithfully  to 
observe  the  regulations  laid  down  for  ensuring  the 
great  object — the  safe  custody  of  the  Emperor's  person. 
Having  dehberately  made  their  choice,  with  full  know- 
ledge and  acceptance  of  the  conditions,  it  is  difi&cult  to 
reconcile  their  subsequent  conduct  with  any  code  of 
honour.  They  were  essentially  on  parole,  and  it  is 
recognized  that  the  breaking  of  "parole  reflects  dishonour 
on  him  who  is  guilty  of  it.  The  course  pursued  by 
Napoleon's  suite  was  one  consistent  violation  of  their 
signed  undertaking,  and  convicts  them  of  a  dishonour- 
able contravention  of  their  ^vritten  pledge,  upon  the 
faith  of  which  they  were  alone  permitted  to  share 
their  master's  exile. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

LAS  CASES 

rpHE  time  is  now  approaching  when  we  shall  have  to 
take  leave  of  Las  Cases ;  and  the  rest  of  our 
narrative  will  be  based  upon  other  sources  of  infor- 
mation. It  is  as  well,  therefore,  to  sum  up  the  charges 
which  he  brings  against  the  Governor,  and  see  how 
much  substance  there  is  in  them.  We  say  advisedly 
against  the  Governor  himself,  for  the  purpose  of  this 
work  is  not  so  much  to  vindicate  the  action  of  the 
British  Government  in  their  treatment  of  Napoleon 
(though  in  that  respect  we  have  shoAvn  how  entirely 
justified  it  was  by  the  circumstances  of  [the  case),  but  to 
clear  Sir  Hudson  Lowe's  memory  from  the  cruel  and 
unfounded  slanders  with  which  it  has  been  sought  to 
besmirch  it.  Fortunately,  in  his  Journal,  Las  Cases 
has  himself  given  this  summary,  which,  of  course, 
presents  the  case  for  the  object  of  his  idolatry  as  favour- 
ably as  possible,  and  seeks  to  blacken  to  the  utmost  the 
conduct  of  the  Governor. 

He  starts  with  a  falsehood.    "  It  has  been  seen,"  he 
writes,  "  that  the  advent  of  the  new  Governor  was  for 

189 


190  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

us  the  beginning  of  a  sinister  existence."  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  nothing  of  the  sort  has  been  seen.  Before  Sir 
Hudson  appeared,  the  pohcy  of  provocation  had  already 
been  agreed  upon  and  put  into  operation  against  Admiral 
Cockburn.  Las  Cases  himself  describes  the  studied 
poUteness  displayed  by  Lowe  towards  him  on  their  first 
meeting,  and  we  have  seen  how  the  Governor,  from  his 
first  interview  with  Napoleon,  manifested  an  evidently 
sincere  desire  to  get  on  as  good  terms  with  his  captive 
as  their  relative  positions  would  permit,  and  how  all 
his  advances  were  repulsed.  The  insults  hurled  at  the 
Governor  by  Napoleon  went  on  in  a  continual  crescendo 
of  brutahty  at  each  successive  interview,  in  spite  of  the 
patience  and  forbearance  with  which  Sir  Hudson  met 
them.  All  this  is  on  the  record  of  Las  Cases  himself. 
He  charges  the  Governor  with  striking  terror  into  the 
inhabitants  of  the  island  in  regard  to  their  relations 
with  the  exiles — those  inhabitants  who,  on  the  ter- 
mination of  Lowe's  governorship,  presented  him  with  an 
address  of  thanks  for  his  beneficent  rule.  He  com- 
plains that  the  Governor  forbade  correspondence, 
which  is  a  suggestio  falsi,  for  correspondence  was  per- 
mitted under  certain  regulations  imposed  by  the  British 
Government.  He  accuses  him  of  inviting  Napoleon  to 
dinner  as  General  Bonaparte,  with  the  object  of  ex- 
hibiting him  to  a  lady  of  quaHty  who  was  visiting 
the  island  ;  a  malevolent  interpretation  of  the  Governor's 
motives,  which  discloses  the  animus  of  a  mind  in  search 


LAS  CASES  191 

of  a  grievance.  The  rest  of  the  charges  are  as  follows  : 
"  On  the  authority  of  a  despatch  dragging  the  Emperor 
down  into  the  mud,"  to  discuss  household  matters 
with  him  ;  worrying  him  to  provide  money  which  he 
did  not  possess  to  meet  some  of  the  reckless  expenditure 
at  Longwood,  and  compelling  him  to  sell  his  plate  to  a 
buyer  and  at  a  price  fixed  by  the  Governor ;  limiting 
the  household  to  a  bottle  of  wine  a  day,  and  including 
the  Emperor  in  the  restriction  ;  enforcing  the  most 
outrageous  limits  to  the  Emperor's  movements  in  the 
island ;  digging  ditches  and  erecting  palisades  and 
"  redouts  "  (sic)  around  Longwood  ;  compelHng  the 
signing  of  the  declaration  under  pain  of  immediate 
expulsion  from  St.  Helena. 

Of  these  charges  some  are  palpably  false,  some 
partially  so,  some  gross  exaggerations,  some  fantastic, 
and  for  most  of  them  Sir  Hudson  was  not  personally 
responsible.  Those  that  are  absolutely  false  are  the 
*'  terror-striking  "  matter  ;  the  compulsory  sale  of  the 
plate,  which  was  a  transparent  dodge  of  Napoleon  to 
give  colour  to  the  charge  of  a  deliberate  attempt  to 
starve  him.  Clearly,  the  plate  need  not  have  been  sold, 
if  he  had  brought  his  household  expenses  within  reason- 
able Umits,  besides  which  it  will  be  seen  later  that  he 
was  at  that  very  time  in  possession  of  ample  resources. 
The  charge  which  is  partially  false  is  the  prohibition  of 
correspondence  ;  the  exaggeration  is  to  be  found  in  the 
digging  of  ditches  and  the  erection  of  palisades  and 


192     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ,ST.  HELENA 

"  redouts."  There  were  no  "  redouts "  erected  near 
Longwood.  It  is  in  the  last  degree  fantastic  to  ground 
a  complaint  on  the  Governor's  desire  to  discuss  house- 
hold matters  with  Napoleon,  What  else  was  he  to  do  ? 
The  British  Government  had,  through  Lowe's  action, 
raised  the  subsidy  allotted  to  the  support  of  the  exiles 
from  £8,000  to  £12,000  per  annum.  Lowe  had  to  work 
with  that  sum  at  his  disposal — he  could  get  no  more. 
He  found  that  £20,000  would  be  barely  sufficient  to 
cover  the  cost  of  the  household,  and  was  forced  to 
discuss  ways  and  means  with  Napoleon  accordingly. 
He  had  to  account  for  his  management  to  his  Govern- 
ment, who  would  naturally  want  to  know  where  all  this 
money  was  going  to.  In  any  case,  the  complaints, 
with  the  one  exception  of  the  Governor's  desire  to 
discuss  ways  and  means,  should  have  been  made,  if  at 
all,  against  the  British  Government,' and  not  urged  as 
acts  of  oppression  against  the  Governor  himseK. 

And  now  let  us  see  what  Sir  Hudson  had  to  complain 
of  on  his  side.  Here,  also,  Las  Cases  saves  us  the 
trouble  of  sifting  the  matter  out  ourselves,  for  he  has 
catalogued  the  Emperor's  abuse  with  evident  approval 
and  satisfaction,  quite  unconscious,  apparently,  that  he 
thereby  damns  his  idol's  case. 

Apparently  unable  to  describe  the  simplest  facts 
without  falling  into  inaccuracy,  he  says  :  "  The  Em- 
peror, goaded  to  extremes  by  such  ignoble  treatment, 
and    so    many    gratuitous    "  mechancetes"    expressed 


LAS  CASES  193 

himself  without  reserve  to  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  himself. 
Now,  we  have  already  shown  that  before  the  Governor 
had  time  for  "  mechancete,''  indeed  immediately  after 
his  first  interview  with  his  captive,  Napoleon  declared 
war,  and  soon  afterwards  began  those  brutal  insults 
which  Las  Cases  covers  up  with  the  euphemism  "  with- 
out reserve."  It  is  therefore  quite  obvious  which  of  the 
two  men  was  guilty  of  "  mecJiancetes."  However, 
here  is  a  recapitulation  of  some  of  Napoleon's  choice 
phrases,  as  given  by  Las  Cases  : — 

"  The  worst  thing  the  English  Government  have 
done  is  not  in  sending  me  here,  but  in  having  placed 
me  in  your  power." 

"  I  had  reason  to  complain  of  the  Admiral,  your 
predecessor,  but  at  all  events  he  had  a  heart." 

"  You  disgrace  your  nation  and  your  name  will  be 
blasted." 

"  This  Governor  has  nothing  of  the  EngHshman  about 
him  ;   he  is  only  a  rascally  SiciHan  police  spy." 

"  I  complained  at  first  that  they  had  sent  me  a 
gaoler,  but  I  now  find  they  have  sent  me  a  hangman." 

To  which  Las  Cases  adds  a  significant  etc.,  etc.  The 
reader  will  appreciate  the  propriety  of  this  addendum 
in  view  of  the  inadequacy  of  Las  Cases'  examples  of 
his  master's  bilhngsgate. 

Before  proceeding  to  trace  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  Las  Cases'  expulsion  from  St.  Helena,  a  brief 
sketch  of  his  career  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

N 


104     THE   REAL  MARTYR  OF  RT.  HELENA 

*  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  as  a  member 
of  the  old  French  noblesse.  Las  Cases  naturally  found 
himself  on  the  royaUst  side.  He  was  then  in  his  twenty- 
first  year,  and  was  at  that  period  a  lieutenant  in 
the  French  navy.  He  fled  from  France  at  the  time 
of  the  general  emigration  of  the  nobility,  and  spent 
some  years  in  England,  until  the  amnesty  granted  by 
the  First  Consul  at  the  treaty  of  Amiens  enabled  him 
to  return  to  France.  Shortly  afterwards  monarchy  was 
restored  imder  the  imperial  regime,  and  the  astonishing 
victories  of  Austerhtz,  Jena  and  Friedland ;  the  treaties 
of  Presburg  and  of  Tilsit  intoxicated  France  with 
glory  and  made  her  the  mistress  of  Europe.  Secured 
on  his  throne  by  this  succession  of  triumphs,  Napoleon 
gathered  round  him  all  the  members  of  the  old  nobiUty 
whom  he  could  induce  to  accept  monarchy  in  its  new 
form.  A  brilliant  career  was  thus  suddenly  opened  to 
men  who  had  shortly  before  been  ruined  fugitives  from 
their  fatherland,  and  who  had  either  found  themselves  in 
the  service  of  foreigners,  fighting  against  their  country, 
or  reduced  to  the  direst  expedients  to  eke  out  a  miserable 
existence.  Las  Cases  had  been  one  of  the  more  for- 
tunate of  these  exiles,  for  he  had  discovered  a  mine  of 
wealth  in  his  Historical  Atlas,  and  having  arrived  in 
England  with  seven  louis  in  his  pocket,  returned  to 
France  with  several  thousand  pounds.  The  glamour 
of  Napoleon's  fame,  and  the  apparent  hopelessness  of 
^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  i.  part  1,  p.  2,  etc. 


LAS  CASES  195 

the  Bourbon  cause,  decided  him.  He  resolved  to 
accept  the  new  order,  and  aflame  with  the  ambition  of 
sharing  in  such  glories,  he  joined  the  French  army  at 
Flushing  as  a  volunteer.  He  was  appointed  chamber- 
lain to  the  Emperor,  and  remained  faithful  to  him 
afterwards.  During  the  exile  at  Elba  he  kept  quiet, 
and  offered  his  services  on  Napoleon's  return  to  Paris. 

^  Las  Cases  was  of  diminutive  stature,  scarcely  ex- 
ceeding five  feet  in  height,  and  his  mind  appears  to 
have  been  fitted  to  his  physique.  His  motives  in 
accompanying  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena  were  largely 
compounded  of  vanity  and  self-interest.  To  have 
remained  in  Europe  after  the  Bourbon  restoration 
would  have  been  to  doom  himself  to  obscurity,  for  as 
an  apostate  royalist,  he  could  have  hoped  for  no  con- 
sideration under  the  new  regime.  On  the  other  hand, 
to  identify  himself  with  the  ex-Emperor  in  his  exile 
was  to  draw  the  eyes  of  the  world  upon  him ;  and 
possessing  as  he  did  a  considerable  Hterary  talent,  it 
offered  him  the  prospect  of  distinction  and  profit  as  an 
author.  He  had,  as  we  have  said,  already  made  a  hit 
and  a  good  deal  of  money  out  of  his  Historical  Atlas, 
and  no  doubt  golden  visions  presented  themselves 
to  his  mind  as  the  Boswell  of  his  imperial  Johnson. 
The  eagerness  which  he  subsequently  displayed  to 
get  out  of  the  island  after  he  had  acquired  all  that  was 
worth  gleaning  from  his  loquacious  master,  shows  that 
^  The  Surrender  of  Napoleon,  Maitland,  p.  227, 


196  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

his  pretence  of  undying  fidelity  and  heroic  self-sacrifice 
was  to  a  large  extent  bunkum.  Napoleon  soon  began 
to  repeat  himself  in  his  fanciful  narrations  of  his  career, 
and  Las  Cases,  as  soon  as  his  budget  of  notes  was  full, 
was  probably  anxious  to  put  them  into  profitable 
shape  before  the  subject  grew  stale.  His  persistent 
trickiness  and  mendacity  show  him  to  have  been  en- 
tirely devoid  of  a  sense  of  honour,  and  not  at  all  of  the 
stufE  of  which  martyrs  are  made. 


CHAPTER  XX 

EXIT  LAS  CASES 

TTTE  now  come  to  the  events  which  led  to  the  removal 
of  Las  Cases  from  St.  Helena. 

He  had  all  along  taken  a  leading  part  in  hostility 
to  the  Governor,  and  had  been  the  foremost  in  sending 
defamatory  and  mendacious  communications  to  Europe. 
The  others,  indeed,  had  restricted  their  letters  to 
domestic  concerns  and  matters  of  a  trivial  character. 
It  was  therefore  only  right  and  proper  that  the  authorities 
should  keep  a  sharp  look-out  on  his  proceedings. 

^  In  the  middle  of  November,  1816,  the  Governor 
had  received  a  warning  that  a  mulatto  named  James 
Scott,  who  had  been  engaged  as  a  servant  by  the  Count, 
was  a  person  of  suspicious  character,  and  had  been 
employed  by  him  to  carry  an  important  letter  to  the 
Baroness  Sturmer,  the  wife  of  the  Austrian  Commis- 
sioner. She  told  her  husband,  who,  of  course,  at  once 
informed  Sir  Hudson.  Finding  that  Las  Cases  had 
engaged  this  man  without  the   sanction    of  Admiral 

*  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  367,  etc. 
197 


198  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Cockbuni,  the  Governor  resolved  to  remove  him,  but 
gave  the  Count  the  choice  of  another  servant.  Las 
Cases,  however,  decHned  the  option  and  contented 
himself  with  assistance  from  the  service  at  Longwood. 
Scott  denied  to  the  Governor  ever  having  conveyed 
other  letters  from  his  masters,  and  was  dismissed  with  a 
warning  against  contravening  the  regulations  made  in 
that  regard  under  penalty  of  severe  punishment. 

Some  days  afterwards,  on  the  25th  of  November,  a 
man  named  John  Scott  waited  on  the  Governor  and 
said  he  was  the  father  of  James.  His  son,  he  went  on, 
had  been  at  Longwood  on  the  previous  day,  and  on  his 
return  showed  him  a  waistcoat  into  the  lining  of  which 
were  sewn  two  strips  of  white  taffeta  silk,  inscribed 
\vith  minute  writing.  He  also  had  an  ordinary  letter 
from  Las  Cases,  addressed  to  Lady  Clavering,  which 
proved  merely  to  be  his  "  character  "  as  a  servant.  The 
writing  on  the  two  pieces  of  silk,  which  was  so  small 
as  only  to  be  decipherable  with  a  magnifying  glass, 
turned  out  to  be  letters  from  the  Count  to  Lady  Claver- 
ing in  London  and  Lucien  Bonaparte  in  Rome.  When 
the  father  saw  these  mysterious  objects  he  became 
greatly  alarmed,  and  told  his  son  he  must  at  once  inform 
the  Governor  of  the  affair.  The  son,  however,  was 
much  too  frightened  to  go  himself,  so  John  Scott  had 
lost  no  time  in  acquainting  Sir  Hudson  with  what  was 
going  on.  The  Governor  warmly  thanked  him  for 
his  honest  conduct,  and  immediately  had  James  Scott 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  199 

arrested  ;  while  the  pieces  of  silk  were  handed  over  to 
Major  Gorrequer  to  be  transcribed.  On  returning 
to  James  Town  the  Governor  found  that  the  affair  had 
become  known,  John  Scott  having  told  several  people 
before  his  interview  with  Sir  Hudson.  Prompt  measures 
were  therefore  necessary.  James  Scott  was  sent  for  to 
the  Governor's  house,  who  there  examined  the  contents 
of  the  writings.  He  ordered  Mr.  Rainsford,  the  Inspector 
of  Police,  to  meet  him  on  the  road  to  Longwood,  whither 
he  set  out,  accompanied  by  Sir  G.  Bingham.  Sir 
Hudson  first  saw  Bertrand,  while  inquiries  were  being 
made  as  to  what  Las  Cases  was  then  doing.  He  was 
walking  in  the  garden  with  the  Emperor,  while  his  son 
was  indoors,  writing.  Lowe  was  desirous  of  not  having 
the  Count  arrested  in  Napoleon's  presence,  nor  to  be 
present  when  the  arrest  was  effected.  He  left  the  matter 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Rainsford  and  Sir  Thomas 
Reade,  the  Governor's  aide-de-camp,  and  in  case  of 
resistance  directed  that  his  (the  Governor's)  orderly 
dragoon  should  be  in  readiness,  as  well  as  Reade's 
own,  and  that  a  relief  of  sentries  should  be  within  call. 

When  told  he  was  under  arrest.  Las  Cases  made  no 
resistance,  only  asking  to  be  allowed  to  see  the  Emperor. 
This  was  refused  and  he  then  quietly  submitted — ^indeed, 
resistance  would  have  been  useless.  He  was  then 
taken  to  the  house  at  Hutt's  Gate,  where  Rainsford 
brought  his  papers,  and  making  them  up  into  a  parcel, 
sealed  it  with  Reade's  seal  left  for  the  purpose  and 


200  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Las  Cases'  own.  The  packet  was  then  placed  in  a 
trunk,  which,  in  its  turn,  was  scaled  in  like  manner, 
and  delivered  to  the  officer  of  the  guard  at  Hutt's 
Gate. 

Late  that  afternoon  Major  Gorrequer,  by  the  Gover- 
nor's instructions,  saw  Las  Cases,  and  offered  him 
anything  he  might  stand  in  need  of  from  Sir  Hudson's 
house.  Las  Cases  replied,  "  I  am  very  sensible  of  the 
Governor's  great  kindness,  and  shall  be  obliged  if  you 
will  thank  him  on  my  behalf,"  adding  that  his  wants  were 
very  few,  and  he  would  therefore  require  but  Uttle. 
He  then  asked  how  long  he  was  to  remain  in  that  house. 
The  Major  replied  that  he  beHeved  until  the  following 
day,  or  until  a  more  suitable  and  comfortable  house 
could  be  provided.  Las  Cases  begged  that  the  Governor 
would  not  give  himself  any  trouble  on  that  score,  as 
he  was  quite  comfortable  where  he  was,  and  if  Sir 
Hudson  spoke  from  any  interest  he  took  in  his  comfort, 
"  assure  him  that  I  am  infinitely  better  off  here  than  in 
the  cabin  where  I  have  been  left  for  the  last  nine  months, 
and  that  I  feel  vastly  better  for  the  change." 

It  is  important  to  bear  this  and  other  conversations 
in  mind,  in  view  of  the  gross  falsehoods  that  were  after- 
wards disseminated  about  the  whole  affair. 

Las  Cases  then  said  he  would  hold  the  authorities 
responsible  before  the  law  for  the  proceeding  towards 
him — that  he  had  been  seized  by  force,  arrested  with- 
out reason  assigned,  and  without  giving  him  even  a 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  201 

moment  to  seal  up  his  papers.  He  was  answered  that 
his  papers  would  all  be  carefully  preserved  under  seal. 
On  the  interview  tenninating,  the  Count  said  to  Major 
Gorrequer :  "  Pardon  me,  sir,  if  I  have  said  anything 
which  I  ought  not,  but  excuses  must  be  made  for  the 
first  impulses  one  feels  in  such  circumstances." 

^  According  to  Las  Cases'  account  of  his  intrigues,  his 
son  was  busy  all  day  with  the  epistles,  and  at  night  the 
mulatto  appeared,  and  being  a  bit  of  a  tailor,  sewed 
them  into  the  waistcoat.  The  Count  promised  to  give 
him  some  other  things  if  he  came  again  before  his 
departure,  for  James  Scott  was  about  to  leave  the 
island.  Las  Cases  then  "  went  to  bed,  with  a  light 
heart,  and  a  feeling  of  satisfaction,  arising  from  the 
contemplation  of  a  day  well  employed  and  happily 
employed."  "  Something  attempted,  some  one  done," 
to  vary  Longfellow's  line.  He  was  "  far  from  thinking 
at  that  moment  that  he  had  just  cut,  with  his  owa 
hand,  the  thread  of  his  destiny  at  Longwood." 

^  As  to  his  account  of  his  arrest  and  subsequent 
detention  at  Hutt's  Gate,  the  reliance  to  be  placed  on 
his  veracity  will  be  seen  when  we  state  that  he  de- 
scribes the  house  as  a  "  wretched  hovel,"  and  that  he 
was  obHged  to  sleep  on  a  miserable  pallet,  his  "  poor 
son  "  by  his  side,  lest  he  should  have  to  lie  on  the  floor; 
and  this,  be  it  noted,  after  having  told  Major  Gor- 

^  Memorial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iv.  part  7,  p.  264. 
2  Ibid.  p.  268. 


202  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

reqiier  that  he  was  quite  comfortable  where  he  was, 
and  vastly  better  for  the  change  !  A  French  account  of 
these  occurrences,  afterwards  published  in  Paris,  stated 
that  "  the  barbarous  Governor  threw  Las  Cases  and 
his  son  into  a  miserable  cottage — a  dark  and  infected 
place — a  suddenly  devised  dungeon."  Thus  was  the 
Napoleonic  Legend  built  up  of  fraud  and  falsehood. 

^  In  the  Voice  from  St.  Helena,  the  renegade  surgeon 
O'Meara  devotes  only  two  or  three  lines  to  the  cause  of 
Las  Cases'  arrest.  That  was  for  public  consumption, 
of  course,  and  a  detailed  statement  of  the  facts  would  not 
have  suited  his  purpose,  nor  that  of  his  Whig  abettors. 
2  But  again  we  get  the  truth  from  that  invaluable  reposi- 
tory, his  letters  to  his  confidant,  Finlaison,  where  he  gives 
a  long  and  minute  account  of  the  afiair,  agreeing  in 
every  particular  with  what  we  have  already  set  forth. 

^  After  the  arrest  of  Las  Cases  had  been  accomphshed, 
the  Governor  sent  Major  Gorrequer  to  break  the  news 
to  de  Montholon  so  that  the  Emperor  might  be  informed 
of  what  had  occurred  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  Napoleon 
had  been  an  eye-wdtness  of  the  affair,  although  himself 
concealed  from  view.  De  Montholon  was  asked  to 
tell  his  master  that  the  Governor  regretted  having 
had  to  proceed  to  extremes,  but  the  conduct  of  Las 
Cases   left  him  no  alternative. 

^  A   Voice  from  St.  Helena,  vol.  i.  p.  222. 
-  Loive  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  381. 
3  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  380. 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  203 

1  The  next  move  of  the  Count  was  to  express  a  belief 
that  Scott  was  a  spy  of  the  Governor,  employed  to 
entrap  him  into  a  breach  of  the  regulations,  so  that 
an  excuse  might  be  found  to  expel  him  from  St.  Helena, 
O'Meara  in  his  book  afiects  sympathy  with  Las  Cases, 
but  again  his  invaluable  letters  come  in  to  reveal  his 
real  mind. 

2  "  We  all  know,"  he  writes,  "  that  there  was  nothing 
in  any  of  the  letters  that  would  hang  Las  Cases,  as  since 
the  examination  of  his  papers  he  was  offered  by  Sir 
Hudson  the  choice  either  of  returning  to  Longwood  until 
the  decision  of  the  British  Government  respecting  him 
should  be  known,  or  to  be  sent  to  the  Cape,  there  to 
await  it,  which  latter,  after  a  great  deal  of  shuffling, 
he  embraced — Avhich  when  connected  with  other  cir- 
cimistances,  leads  one  to  imagine  that  he  formed  the 
plan  of  the  letters  and  gave  them  to  the  slave  purposely 
to  be  discovered,  in  order  that  he  might  be  sent  ofE  the 
island,  not  being  able,  after  all  his  professions  of  eternal 
and  unalterable  fidelity  a  VEm'pereur — ^to  whom  he 
declared  so  often  his  life  was  devoted,  who  he  said 
was  his  god — wdth  any  decency  to  ask  permission  to  go 
away  ;  whereas  by  doing  something  which  would  cause 
his  being  ordered  off  the  island,  he  would  have  the 
opportunity  of  avaiUng  himself  of  the  pretext  that 
he  was  forced  to  leave  him." 

1  Mmwrial  de  Ste.  Helene,  vol.  iv.  part  7,  p.  277 

2  Lotve  Papers,  vol.  i.  p.  381. 


204  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

For  once,  O'Meara's  base  and  corrupt  mind  put  him,  in 
all  likelihood,  on  the  right  track.  "  Set  a  thief  to  catch 
a  thief,"  is  a  sound  old  proverb,  and  in  this  instance 
the  surgeon's  degraded  instincts  enabled  him  to  see 
through  the  Count's  trickery.  That  he  was  correct  in  his 
surmise  is  borne  out  by  Lamartine,  who,  in  his  History 
of  the  Restoration  of  Monarchy  in  France,  says  :  ^  "  His 
(Napoleon's)  friends  and  servants,  wearied,  not  with 
duty  but  of  patience ;  tired  of  separation  from  their 
families  ;  of  the  climate  ;  of  sickness,  and  of  inquisition, 
quitted  him,  or  tried  to  quit  him,  under  pretence  of 
being  torn  from  him  by  the  persecution  of  the 
Governor,  or  of  rendering  him  more  useful  services  in 
Europe." 

2  In  reporting  the  matter  to  Lord  Bathurst,  Lowe 
writes  that  he  had  impounded  Las  Cases'  Journal, 
"  the  whole  kept  with  the  minuteness  of  BosweWs  Life  of 
Johnson,  with  the  force  of  General  Bonaparte's  language, 
and  the  embellishments  of  Count  Las  Cases.  Every- 
thing is  sacrificed  in  it  to  the  great  object  of  presenting 
to  posterity  in  the  person  of  General  Bonaparte,  a 
model  of  excellence  and  virtue.  Facts  are  altered,  con- 
versations only  given  by  half ;  his  own  expressions 
repeated,  the  replies  omitted.    Such  I  have  observed 

*  History  of  the  Restoration  of  Mooiarchy  in  France,  A.  de 
Lamartine,  Book  38,  section  39,  pp.  551,  552.  London : 
Vizetelly  &  Co.,  1853. 

2  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  382,  etc. 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  205 

to  be  particularly  the  case  in  conversations  I  have 
myself  had  with  him,  even  where  witnesses  have  been 
present." 

1  An  amusing  contest  arose  between  Napoleon  and 
Las  Cases  as  to  the  possession  of  this  Journal,  Napoleon 
asserting  that  it  had  been  written  by  his  express  orders, 
and  Las  Cases  that  it  was  a  record  of  his  own  pensees, 
of  which  his  master  had  no  knowledge.  Neither  of 
these  statements  was  strictly  true,  but  whereas  Napo- 
leon's was  entirely  false.  Las  Cases'  was  only  partly  so. 
His  master  knew  nothing  of  the  fact  that  the  Count 
was  keeping  this  diary  until  one  day  he  chanced  to 
find  him  writing  it  up,  and  after  that  he  occasionally 
read  and  corrected  it.  But  it  was  absolutely  false  to 
say  it  had  been  kept  by  his  express  orders. 

In  this  dilemma  the  Governor  delivered  a  sort  of 
"  judgment  of  Solomon,"  and  decided  that  neither 
of  the  claimants  should  have  the  disputed  Journal. 
He  locked  it  up  for  the  present  under  seal. 

2  Las  Cases  pere  et  fils,  were  removed  on  the  28th  of 
November  to  Eoss  Cottage  belonging  to  the  Balcombes, 
where  there  was  the  same  accommodation  as  at  Long- 
wood.  They  were  allowed  free  access  to  the  grounds, 
but  were  kept  under  view  by  the  sentries,  and  not 
allowed  to  communicate  with  any  persons  except  those 
authorized  by  the  Governor, 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  384. 
a  Ibid.  p.  386. 


20G     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

*  Bertrand  was  sent  by  Napoleon  to  the  Governor  the 
day  after  the  arrest,  and  instructed  to  speak  for  the 
prisoner,  to  protest  against  his  seizure  and  demand  his 
restoration  to  Longwood.  It  is  significant  that  Bertrand 
only  enlarged  upon  the  Count's  virtues,  carefully  omit- 
ting the  protest  and  the  desire  to  have  him  back.  The 
fact  was  that  the  rest  of  the  Frenchmen  were  glad,  in 
their  hearts,  to  be  rid  of  a  rival,  whom  the  Emperor 
singled  out  as  his  special  companion,  and  upon  whom 
he  lavished  attentions  which  aroused  much  jealousy 
and  heart-burning  among  the  rest. 

2  Lowe  bitterly  complained  to  the  prisoner  of  the 
systematic  misrepresentations  in  the  Journal,  such  as 
the  reduction  of  expenses  at  Longwood,  while  not  a  word 
was  written  about  his  having,  on  his  own  initiative, 
raised  the  sum  originally  allocated  by  the  British 
Government  by  as  much  as  one-half.  Las  Cases 
expressed  a  great  desire  for  a  ra'pprochement  and  said  he 
was  ready  "  de  se  sacrifier  pour  un  raccommodement" 
He  had  nothing  to  say,  however,  in  defence  of  his 
grossly  garbled  and  manipulated  record. 

We  shall  only  give  one  more  example  of  Las  Cases' 
bad  faith  before  proceeding  to  his  final  disappearance, 
as  it  mil  show  that  in  spite  of  his  platonic  desire  for 
ra'pprochement,  he  still  intended  to  continue  his  old 
system. 

1  Ibid.  p.  387,  2  Ibid.  p.  388. 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  207 

^  He  obtained  the  Governor's  consent  to  his  writing 
an  "  official  letter,"  to  him  (Lowe)  which,  by  the  way, 
he  had  already  prepared.  In  this  he  wrote,  "  In  con- 
sequence of  the  snare  which  according  to  all  appearances 
was  laid  by  my  servant,  I  was  on  the  28th  inst.  removed 
from  Longwood  and  all  my  papers  seized."  Sir  Hudson 
called  on  Las  Cases  on  the  4th  of  December  and  strongly 
remonstrated  w4th  him  for  making  this  monstrous 
charge.  Major  Gorrequer,  who  was  present,  says : 
The  Governor  observed  that  to  accuse  the  servant 
was  to  accuse  him,  as  the  servant  could  not  have  run 
the  risk  of  carrying  the  plot  into  efiect  without  his 
(Lowe's)  knowledge.  The  EngUsh  laws  would  not 
tolerate  such  a  proceeding ;  it  was  against  both  the 
spirit  and  morality  of  English  customs ;  and  could 
he  have  been  guilty  of  such  a  proceeding  as  that  of 
employing  a  servant  to  entrap  his  master,  he  must  have 
considered  himself  a  dishonest  man.  He  then  ex- 
plained how  the  discovery  was  made.  Las  Cases 
repUed  that  he  had  been  very  careful  of  his  wording,  and 
had  used  the  expression  "  selon  les  afparences"  and 
had  not  intended  to  implicate  the  Governor.  Now, 
however,  that  he  had  assured  him  it  was  not  a  plot,  he 
was  happy  to  be  undeceived. 

Now,  what  will  be  thought  of  Las  Cases'  sense  of 
honour  when  we  state  that  in  subsequently  publishing 
in  book  form  his  official  letter  to  the  Governor,  the 
^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  i.  p.  390, 


208  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

qualifying  words  "  selon  les  apparences  "  were  deliber- 
ately omitted,  so  that  the  atrocious  charge  by  innuendo 
against  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  stands  in  all  its  naked 
malignity  ?  Fortunately,  the  original  letter  was  found 
among  the  Governor's  papers,  and  the  writer  of  it 
stands  convicted  of  a  singularly  treacherous  act,  first 
in  making  these  words  the  pretext  for  repudiating  any 
intention  of  impugning  the  honour  of  the  Governor,  and 
then,  by  omitting  them,  spreading  the  infamous  accusa- 
tion broadcast  throughout  the  world. 

Meanwhile,  in  spite  of  all  the  horrible  charges  made 
against  him  in  Las  Cases'  Journal,  and  the  long  series 
of  affronts  he  had  received  from  him,  the  Governor  con- 
tinued that  noble  and  chivalrous  requital  of  wrongs  by 
benefits,  which  he  had  always  pursued.  ^  He  sent 
Dr.  Baxter  specially  to  visit  the  Count  and  his  son, 
who  asserted  they  were  ill,  and  the  doctor  thereafter 
wrote  to  Lowe  as  follows. 

"  12th  of  December,  1816.  Old  Las  Cases  said  that 
however  your  actions  might  be  influenced  by  political 
motives  and  circumstances,  your  conduct  towards  him 
since  his  removal  from  Longwood  had  been  marked  with 
that  politeness  and  attention  which  was  in  every  way 
agreeable  to  his  feehngs,  and  that  he  saw  at  present 
your  character  in  a  very  different  Hght  and  through 
quite  another  medium  than  when  at  Longwood." 

2  On  the  11th  of  December,  Napoleon  wrote  to  Las 
^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol,  ii.  p.  2.  ^  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  2. 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  209 

Cases,  The  letter  contained  all  the  old  wearisome 
string  of  fables,  plus  the  "  plot  "  charge.  It  was,  on  de 
Montholon's  own  admission,  deUberately  designed  to 
frighten  the  Governor  and  induce  him  to  send  Las  Cases 
back  to  Longwood.  When  he  heard  that  the  Count  was 
being  kindly  treated,  Napoleon  exclaimed,  "  Ha,  ha  ! 
I  gain  groimd.  Decidedly  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  is  afraid." 
On  the  12th  of  December  he  remarked  to  his  suite, 
"  This  Lowe  is  a  cunning  wretch,  but  I  have  just  dictated 
to  Marchand  a  fine  letter  for  Las  Cases.  It  will  terribly 
embarrass  the  Governor."  ^  Lowe  showed  the  letter  to 
the  Count,  but  sent  it  to  Lord  Bathurst  with  comments, 
exposing  the  falsehoods  with  which  it  was  crammed. 
He  added  that  Las  Cases'  correspondence  was  quite 
different  from  that  of  the  other  exiles,  being  always 
full  of  insidious  misrepresentations  as  to  the  situation 
in  the  island,  and  grievances,  the  greater  part  of  which 
were  inherent  to  their  position,  of  which,  as  voluntarily 
assumed,  they  had  no  right  to  complain.  "It  is  the 
return,  however,  which  I  have  always  received  where 
my  desire  has  been  to  show  attention." 

In  showing  Napoleon's  letter  to  the  Count,  the 
Governor  protested  against  its  gross  personal  calumnies 
against  himself,  blended  with  violent  and  unfounded 
reflections  on  the  Government.  If  he  (Lowe)  had 
been  the  greatest  scoundrel  in  the  world,  he  could  not 
have  been  treated  worse  than  in  this  letter. 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,   vol.   ii.   p.   10. 

O 


210  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

*  In  the  conversation  that  followed  Las  Cases  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  found  he  was  wrong  in  his  opinion  of 
Lowe,  and  excused  the  Emperor's  brutality  on  the  plea 
that  his  bodily  infirmities  had  affected  his  mind.  If 
the  Governor  knew  him  he  would  find  him  to  be  a  man 
of  the  best  natural  disposition.  The  Governor  must 
have  smiled  at  this  if  he  had  thought  of  his  interviews 
with  this  man  of  the  "  best  natural  disposition."  How- 
ever, Lowe,  with  obstinate  good-nature,  invited  Las 
Cases  to  draw  up  a  memorandmn  of  improvements  that 
might  be  made  in  Napoleon's  situation,  and  if  they 
were  consistent  with  the  security  of  the  Emperor's 
person  he  would  carefully  consider  them.  Las  Cases 
appeared  to  assent  to  this,  and  agreed  that  the  Governor 
was  right  in  taking  every  precaution  to  ensure  Napoleon's 
safety,  which  he  admitted  was  the  first  and  great  object 
to  keep  in  view.  This  is  Major  Gorrequer's  account 
of  the  conversation. 

2  Having  offered,  as  we  have  said,  to  allow  Las  Cases 
and  his  son  to  return  to  Longwood  until  the  decision  of 
the  Government  regarding  them  had  been  received,  and 
that  ofEer  having  been  declined,  Lowe  asked  him  what 
he  wished  to  do.  To  be  sent  to  England,  was  the 
reply.  The  Governor  said  it  was  useless  to  talk  of  that 
as  it  was  directly  against  his  instructions.  He  could 
either  stay  in  St.  Helena  or  go  to  the  Cape. 

^  Lotm  Papers,   Forsyth,    vol,    ii.    p.    11, 
2  Ibid.  p.  16, 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  211 

^  It  is  almost  incredible,  but  none  the  less  true,  that 
after  this  interview,  in  which  he  had  dechned  to  return 
to  Longwood,  Las  Cases  wrote  to  Bertrand,  "  To-day  the 
Governor  informs  me  that  I  am  to  wait  here  until  answers 
come  from  England.  Thus  I  shall  be  for  months  to- 
gether at  St.  Helena,  and  Longwood  will  not  exist  for 
me  ;  a  new  species  of  torment,  which  I  had  not  thought 
of." 

Further  conversations  and  correspondence  passed 
between  Lowe  and  the  Comit,  which  it  would  be  weari- 
some to  detail,  for  they  merely  show  the  same  old 
trickiness  and  shiftiness  that  to  Las  Cases  had  now 
become  a  second  nature.  ^  They  all  ended  at  last  in  an 
urgent  request  from  the  Count  to  be  removed  from  the 
island  at  once.  He  asked  to  be  allowed  to  see  "  his  god  " 
once  more,  and  the  request  was  granted  on  the  con- 
dition that  a  British  officer  should  be  present  at  the 
interview.  The  condition  was  declined.  The  Count, 
as  a  last  act,  made  over  to  the  Emperor  4,000  louis  in 
bills  on  London.  We  shall  see  in  due  course  that  this 
pretended  gift  was  only  another  of  the  many  fraudulent 
devices  to  impress  the  world  with  the  behef  that  Napoleon 
was  in  desperate  straits. 

The  sloop  of  war.  Griffon,  which  conveyed  Las 
Cases  and  his  son  to  the  Cape,  sailed  on  the  30th  of 
December,  1816. 

1  Ibid.  p.  19.  2  jbi(j    p,  35^ 


212  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

*  He  describes  his  departure  as  follows  : 
"  All  business  being  now  settled  between  us,  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe,  by  a  characteristic  turn  of  behaviour, 
which  he  had  oftener  than  once  exhibited  since  I  had 
been  his  prisoner,  either  from  motives  of  civility  or 
calculation,  immediately  wrote  for  me  several  letters 
of  introduction  to  his  private  friends  at  the  Cape,  who, 
he  assured  me,  would  prove  very  agreeable  to  me.  I 
had  not  the  courage  to  refuse  these  letters,  such  was  the 
sincerity  with  which  they  appeared  to  be  offered.^ 
At  length  the  long-looked-for  moment  of  departure 
arrived.  The  Governor  accompanied  me  to  the  gate 
and  ordered  all  his  officers  to  attend  me  to  the  place  of 
embarkation  :  this,  he  said,  was  intended  as  a  mark  of 
respect.  I  eagerly  jimiped  into  the  boat  which  was  in 
readiness  to  receive  me." 

It  is  perhaps  needless  to  point  out  the  vein  of  churlish 
ill-nature  that  runs  through  the  above ;  the  unworthy 
insinuation  that  the  Governor's  generous  conduct  in 
giving  his  inveterate  enemy  and  slanderer  letters  of 

1  Memorial  de  Ste.  HUene,  vol.  iv.  part  8,  p.  36. 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  44.  The  action  of 
Lowe  in  giving  these  letters  of  introduction  was  thus  inter- 
preted in  a  French  publication.  "  He  even  gave  him  letters 
of  introduction  to  influential  persons  at  that  place ;  but 
the  traitor,  we  are  assured,  at  the  moment  when  he  was 
showing  these  apparent  marks  of  interest  for  M.  Las  Cases, 
was  making  the  frightful  proposition,  that  as  soon  as  he  arrived 
in  the  Colony  he  should  be  thrown  into  irons,  and  that  he  shoxild 
rot  there." — Becueil,  vol.  xii.  p.  38. 


EXIT  LAS  CASES  213 

introduction  proceeded  from  "  calculation."  The 
wretched  man  accepts  them,  not  in  a  spirit  of  gratitude, 
not  with  any  feeling  of  remorse  for  his  long  course  of 
injuries,  but  because  he  had  not  the  courage  to  refuse, 
such  was  the  sincerity  with  which  they  "  appeared  "  to 
be  offered.  To  such  a  depth  had  this  man  been  dragged 
down  by  the  evil  influence  of  his  Satanic  master  ! 

However,  he  tells  us  that  at  length  "  the  long-looked- 
for  moment  of  departure  came,"  and  that  he  "  eagerly 
jumped  into  the  boat."  Was  it  that,  after  all,  his  good 
angel  prompted  him  to  hail  with  joy  his  separation 
from  the  contamination  of  Longwood  ? 

And  now,  before  we  finally  bid  good-bye  to  Las 
Cases,  let  us  see  how  the  cruel,  barbarous,  inhuman 
gaoler,  Lowe,  wrote  about  him  to  Lord  Charles  Somerset, 
the  Governor  of  the  Cape ;  and  let  us  in  reading  it 
remember  the  libels,  the  insults,  the  disgraceful  imputa- 
tions and  wicked  innuendoes  which  the  subject  of  it  had 
heaped  upon  its  writer. 

^  "  I  should  not  omit  to  add  Count  Las  Cases  is  a  man 
of  considerable  talents,  of  high  literary  attainments — 
exceedingly  specious,  eloquent  and  insinuating — is,  or 
affects  to  be,  a  fanatic  admirer,  or  rather  adorer,  of 
Bonaparte — hashvedin  closer  habits  of  intimacy  with 
him  since  his  arrival  on  this  island  than  any  other  person 
who  accompanied  him,  and  has  been  certainly  the  most 
active  in  keeping  up  the  irritation  of  his  mind  against 
*  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  45. 


214  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

all  the  measures  of  the  British  Government,  even 
repelling  amehorations  of  his  own  situation  when 
offered.  He  has,  besides,  infringed  the  regulations,  in 
different  instances,  before  his  last  separation.  In  other 
respects  he  is  a  person  of  highly  pohte  and  gentle  manners, 
and  merits  the  consideration  due  to  him  on  such  ac- 
count. His  most  judicious  plan,  I  conceive,  would  be 
to  remain  quiet  until  Government  sends  its  answers 
regarding  him,  and  your  lordship's  suggestions  on  this 
point  might,  perhaps,  have  some  weight  with  him." 

The  kindness  of  Sir  Hudson  in  writing  this  letter  was 
ill  requited.  When  Las  Cases'  book  appeared  it  con- 
tained the  most  false  and  calumnious  statements  regard- 
ing his  treatment  at  the  Cape  and  the  conduct  of  the 
Governor  of  that  Colony  towards  him.  In  March, 
1819,  Lord  Charles  Somerset  wrote  as  follows  to  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe  :  ^  "  The  whole  of  the  Count's  pubhcation 
(if  it  really  be  his)  is  so  contemptible  a  performance, 
that  I  own  his  waiUngs  and  his  complaints,  as  far  as 
they  involve  myself,  are  matters  perfectly  indifferent 
to  me.  With  regard  to  his  assertions  respecting  the 
Cape,  and  his  treatment  here,  I  know  them  to  be  so 
absolutely  and  impudently  false  that  it  is  not  too  much 
to  presume  there  is  not  a  single  correct  statement  in  the 
whole  book." 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  iii.  p.  148. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

CONCERNING    A    BUST,    BONBONS    AND    OTHER    MATTERS 

A  FTER  the  departure  of  Las  Cases  efforts  were  made 
to  improve  the  relations  between  Napoleon  and 
the  Governor,  but  the  former  was  so  infuriated  at  the 
refusal  to  allow  the  Count  to  see  him  except  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  British  oflScer,  that  nothing  in  the  direction 
of  pacification  could  be  done.  As  usual,  the  Emperor 
accused  Lowe  of  an  act  of  barbarity  in  not  permitting 
the  idolater  to  see  his  "  god,"  carefully  omitting  to 
say  that  permission  had  been  given  subject  to  the  one 
condition,  which  Napoleon  refused  to  accept. 

We  have  already  mentioned  that  the  Pole,  Poniont- 
kowski,  had  been  expelled  the  island.  He,  too,  had 
been  actively  engaged  in  the  export  of  falsehoods,  and 
had  shown  himself  a  particularly  truculent  and  impudent 
person.  Napoleon  repudiated  all  responsibiUty  for  him, 
saying  that  all  he  knew  about  him  was  that  he  had  been 
a  soldier  of  his  guard  at  Elba,  and  had  never  been  asked 
to  come  to  St.  Helena.    ^  This  Pole  was  treated  quite 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  60. 
215 


216  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

like  a  menial  at  Longwood,  and  was  never  admitted 
either  to  the  table  or  the  society  of  the  Emperor  or  the 
suite.  Conduct  which  from  Las  Cases  could  hardly  be 
borne,  was  quite  intolerable  in  the  case  of  this  man,  and 
his  career  of  mischief  was  therefore  a  very  short  one. 
Three  of  the  useless  and  redundant  retinue  of  servants 
were  also  dismissed — Santini  the  huissier,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  conceived  murderous  designs  against 
the  Governor  ;  Archambaud,  the  groom,  and  Rousseau, 
the  argentier.  Santini,  on  arriving  in  England,  was 
got  hold  of  by  a  certain  Colonel  Maceroni,  who  had 
been  in  the  service  of  Murat,  and  made  use  of  the  half- 
mad  Corsican  to  fabricate  a  sensational  pamphlet  en- 
titled :  ^An  A'p'peal  to  the  British  Nation  on  the  Treatment 
of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena.  It  purported, 
quite  falsely,  to  be  the  work  of  Santini  himself,  who  was 
almost  an  ilHterate,  and  absolutely  incapable  of  produc- 
ing such  a  work.  In  point  of  fact,  Maceroni  soon  after 
avowed  the  authorship,  but  it  appeared  as  if  nothing 
could  emanate  from  Napoleon's  partisans  without  the 
taint  of  fraud  attaching  to  it.  This  precious  production 
was  pubhshed  by  Ridgeways,  and  had  a  ready  sale, 
being  hawked  about  the  streets  and  otherwise  energeti- 
cally "  pushed."  ^  It  was  eagerly  acclaimed  by  "  the 
base,  brutal  and  bloody  Whigs,"  and  Santini  became  their 


*  Lowe   Papers,   Forsyth,    vol.    ii.    p.    157. 
'  Ibid.  p.  158. 


CONCERNING  A  BUST  217 

hero,  hobnobbing  with  Lords  Holland  and  Grey,  Sir 
Robert  Wilson  and  other  high-souled  champions  of 
the  "  Martyr  of  Longwood."  It  is  only  fair  to  the 
Whig  hero-and-martyr-in-chief  to  say  that  he  ridiculed 
the  whole  thing,  describing  the  pamphlet  as  a  "  fooHsh 
production  full  of  lies,"  and  adding  that  Santini  had  a 
true  Corsican  head,  and  could  not  be  the  author,  as  he 
would  not  have  praised  Admiral  Cockburn,  but  if  left 
to  himself  would  have  abused  everybody ;  the  author, 
in  Napoleon's  opinion,  was  some  EngHshman. 

On  arriving  at  the  Cape  Las  Cases  sent  Lowe  a  verbose 
protest  against  his  treatment,  full  of  the  customary 
falsehoods  and  irrelevancies.  One  of  his  chief  com- 
plaints was  that  he  had  been  sent  to  the  Cape  without 
his  paperS;  whereas  they  had  all  been  delivered  to  him 
except  the  Journal,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  claimed 
by  the  Emperor.  We  have  also  seen  how  he  was  offered 
by  Lowe  the  alternative  of  remaining  at  St.  Helena  until 
the  receipt  of  instructions  from  the  Ministry  as  to  his 
disposal,  and  how  of  his  own  free  wall  he  decided  to  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  the  Cape.  The  other  statements  in 
this  "  protest "  were  equally  devoid  of  truth. 

While  Las  Cases  had  been  the  arch-intriguer  at 
Longwood  the  "  Grand  Marechal "  had  been  a  fairly 
good  second,  and  Lowe  had  informed  Lord  Bathurst 
of  his  consistent  insolence  and  defiance  of  regulations. 
^  His  lordship,  in  October,  1816,  wrote  to  the  Governor 
^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  voL  i.  p.  321. 


218  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

that  the  Prince  Regent  entirely  approved  of  his  con- 
duct under  very  difficult  circumstances — the  intemperate 
outbursts  of  Napoleon  and  the  general  insubordination 
of  his  satelhtes  ;  that  unless  Bertrand  refonned  his 
behaviour  no  doubt  Sir  Hudson  would  have  to  remove 
him  also  from  the  island.  Lord  Bathurst  added  that 
he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  "  Grand  Marechal " 
wanted  to  go,  and  that  his  insolence  was  dehberately 
assumed  to  lead  to  that  result.  With  regard  to  the 
sum  allocated  for  the  expenses  of  the  exiles,  his  lordship 
wrote  that  it  had  originally  been  fixed  at  £8,000  per 
annum,  owing  to  the  probable  reduction  of  the  numbers 
of  the  household  ;  but  as  that  expectation  had  not  been 
realized,  he  would  sanction  such  increase  as  Lowe  might 
think  necessary,  but  on  no  account  was  the  increase  to 
exceed  £4,000.  Should  Napoleon  still  refuse  to  bear 
any  excess,  there  would  be  no  alternative  but  to  put 
the  establishment  on  a  fixed  allowance,  so  as  to  bring 
the  charge  within  the  specified  limit  of  £12,000.  As 
to  the  book  which  was  retained  owing  to  its  sender, 
the  Whig  Hobhouse  having  inscribed  it  "To  Napoleon 
le  Grand,"  Lord  Bathurst  cordially  approved  the 
Governor's  action. 

These  facts  are  a  further  proof  that  in  all  he  did  Lowe 
was  acting  on  specific  instructions  from  the  British 
Ministry,  and  with  their  full  approval  and  sup- 
port. 

We  now  come  to  an  episode  about  which  more  un- 


CONCERNING  A  BUST  219 

blushing  falsehoods  have  been  told  and  believed  than 
about  any  other  occurrence  during  Napoleon's  exile. 

^  A  bust  of  Napoleon's  son,  the  titular  "  King  of 
Rome,"  was  sent  to  St.  Helena,  apparently  as  a  specu- 
lative venture  by  the  owners  in  London,  to  see  if  it 
would  extract  a  good  round  sum  from  the  Emperor's 
pocket.  Again,  in  this  instance,  a  quite  unnecessary 
atmosphere  of  deceit  and  concealment  was  evolved 
to  cloak  the  transaction.  The  bust  was  taken  on 
board  the  stores  vessel  Baring  by  one  of  the  crew,  a 
foreigner  named  Radovitch,  without  the  knowledge  of 
the  captain.  The  vessel  arrived  at  St.  Helena  on  the  28th 
of  May,  by  which  time  Radovitch  was  prostrated  with 
an  apoplectic  attack,  followed  by  delirium.  The 
bust  was  discovered  and  brought  to  the  Governor  on 
the  10th  of  June,  and  after  a  short  deliberation  was 
transmitted  to  Napoleon  on  the  11th,  after  Bertrand 
had  expressed  the  opinion  that  his  master  would  be 
delighted  to  have  it.  The  Emperor  asserted  that  the 
bust  had  been  detained  for  fourteen  days  by  Lowe, 
whom  he  also  accused  of  having  given  orders  to  smash 
it  up.  To  O'Meara  he  said  :  "  I  intended,  if  it  had 
not  been  given  to  me,  to  have  made  such  a  complaint 
as  would  have  caused  every  EngUshman's  hair  to  stand 
on  end  with  horror.  I  would  have  told  a  tale  that 
would  have  made  the  mothers  of  England  execrate  him 
as  a  monster  in  human  shape." 

^  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  pp.  145-153. 


220  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Radovitch,  who  had  now  recovered  sufficiently  from 
his  illness  to  get  about,  had  an  interview  with  Napoleon. 
The  price  asked  for  the  bust  was  £100,  but  Napoleon 
gave  him  £300.  ^  Radovitch  went  off  to  England  with 
the  money,  but  never  turned  over  a  penny  of  it  to  the 
people  who  had  employed  him,  and  who  were  reduced 
to  great  distress  in  consequence — another  example  of 
the  swindUng  that  seemed  to  cling  to  the  Bonapartist 
cause.  2  O'Meara  most  falsely  asserts  that  the  "  poor 
man "  Radovitch,  by  some  unworthy  tricks,  did  not 
receive  the  money  for  nearly  two  years.  The  only 
"  unworthy  trick  "  was  that  played  on  his  employers 
by  the  "  poor  man "  himself.  However,  this  Ue  was 
industriously  circulated  and  very  generally  beheved, 
and  passes  current  to-day  as  part  of  the  gospel  of 
Napoleonism. 

Lord  Bathurst,  in  a  despatch  of  the  31st  of  October, 
1817,  tells  Lowe  that  the  Prince  Regent  thoroughly 
approved  of  the  bust  having  been  given  to  Napoleon, 
but  that  the  suspicious  circumstances  surrounding  it 
fully  justified  preliminary  inquiries.  Had  it  been  any- 
thing else,  the  Governor,  he  said,  would  have  been 
quite  right  in  retaining  it  for  a  much  longer  period. 
There  could  be  no  doubt  that  attempts  w^ere  being  made 
to  smuggle  through  clandestine  communications,  which 


^  Loive  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  152. 
•  A  Voice  from  St.  Hdena,  vol.  ii.  p.  152. 


CONCERNING  A  BUST  221 

"  will  be  much  encouraged  if  it  be  once  understood  that 
your  vigilance  abates." 

^  Shortly  after  this  the  Hon.  John  Elphinstone,  late 
the  President  of  the  East  India  Company  in  China, 
asked  the  Governor  to  present  to  the  Emperor,  on  his 
behalf,  a  set  of  ivory  chessmen,  which  Lowe  agreed  to 
do.  He  found,  however,  that  each  of  the  pieces  was 
surmounted  with  the  letter  N  and  an  imperial  crown 
in  gold.  This  was  a  distinct  infringement  of  the  Govern- 
ment's instructions,  but  Sir  Hudson,  on  this  occasion, 
having  promised  the  donor  to  transmit  the  gift,  ignored 
them,  and  sent  the  chessmen  to  Bertrand,  with  a  very 
polite  note,  remarking  that  by  doing  so  he  was  "  exceed- 
ing his  instructions."  Bertrand's  reply  was  couched 
in  very  insolent  and  offensive  terms.  Lord  Bathurst, 
on  the  18th  of  September,  1817,  wrote  approving  Lowe's 
action,  but  he  added  :  "I  am  so  sensible  of  the  incon- 
venience that  may  result  from  receiving  anything  ad- 
dressed to  him  as  a  sovereign  prince,  that  I  deem  it 
necessary  to  instruct  you  that  in  case  of  any  present 
being  hereafter  forwarded  to  Bonaparte  to  which 
emblems  or  titles  of  sovereignty  are  annexed,  you  are 
to  consider  that  circumstance  as  altogether  precluding 
dehvery,  if  they  cannot  be  removed  without  prejudice 
to  the  present  itself." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  these  presents  were  an  unmitigated 
nuisance,  and  were  mostly  intended  as  such.  Every 
'  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  154. 


222     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

factions  Whig,  more  burdened  with  money  than  wit, 
adopted  this  means  of  annoying  the  Tory  Government 
and  worrying  their  representative.  Lord  and  Lady 
Holland  and  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  for  instance,  sent 
their  darling  books  and  sweetmeats  and  caricatures. 
Lowe  detained  the  caricatures,  but  sent  on  the  books 
and  bon-bons,  and  asked  Lord  Amherst,  the  British 
Ambassador  to  China,  who  was  then  at  St.  Helena,  on 
his  way  to  England,  to  tell  the  Hollands  of  the  difficulty 
and  embarrassment  that  such  presents  occasioned  him 
in  the  performance  of  his  duty. 

It  is  obvious  that  gifts  from  such  influential  quarters 
were  a  cruel  kindness  to  Napoleon.  They  had  the  effect 
of  encouraging  false  hopes  that  the  Whig  Opposition 
could  badger  the  Government  into  releasing  him,  or 
that  a  turn  of  the  political  wheel  of  fortune  would  bring 
them  into  office,  with  the  same  result.  They  also 
showed  that  his  assumed  enemy,  the  Governor,  was 
theirs  also,  and  he  was  thus  stimulated  to  fresh  exertions 
in  his  campaign  of  insolence  and  insults. 

^  Lord  Amherst  had  an  interview  with  Napoleon 
on  the  1st  of  July,  the  day  before  he  left  for  England, 
during  which  the  Emperor  poured  out  the  usual  flood  of 
grievances,  and  asked  his  lordship  to  convey  them  to 
the  Prince  Regent.  Lord  Amherst  told  Sir  Hudson  of 
the  message,  and  asked  him  if  he  thought  he  ought  to 
report  all  these  bitter  complaints.  The  Governor 
^  Itowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  173. 


CONCERNING  A  BUST  223 

replied,  "  Most  certainly,  everything,"  on  which  his 
lordship  said,  "  In  such  case,  sir,  I  shall  think  it  my 
duty  as  an  honest  man  to  say  at  the  same  time  that  I 
consider  them  unfounded." 

Before  we  proceed  to  describe  what  was  now  passing 
in  the  Longwood  household,  which,  as  we  shall  show^ 
was  anything  but  an  "Abode  of  Love,"  we  must  refer 
to  one  Uttle  episode  which  throws  a  significant  hght  on 
the  Governor's  humanity,  and  is  another  proof  of  the 
utter  falsity  of  the  wicked  misrepresentations  to  which 
his  character  has  been  subjected. 

^  It  appears  that  at  this  time,  a  file  of  newspapers 
had  been  received  from  Europe  for  the  Emperor.  In 
looking  through  them,  Sir  Hudson  noticed  an  announce- 
ment that  Bertrand  had  been  condemned  by  a  French 
Court  for  high  treason  m  contumaciam.  In  the  then 
state  of  pohtical  feehng  in  France  this  was  a  very 
serious  matter.  Ney  and  Labedoyere  had  been  con- 
demned for  the  same  offence  and  shot ;  and  Lavalette 
had  only  escaped  a  similar  fate  through  the  heroism  of 
his  wife.  The  Governor,  who  has  been  held  up  to 
execration  as  a  callous,  brutal,  inhuman  monster, 
immediately  saw  that  if  this  paper  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Madame  Bertrand  it  would  greatly  terrify  her ;  he 
therefore  wrote  a  private  note  to  her  husband,  warning 
him  of  what  the  paper  contained,  and  cautioning  him 
not  to  let  it  fall  into  his  wife's  hands.  Could  anything 
^  Loive  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  173. 


224  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

more  display  Sir  Hudson's  real  character,  as  a  kindly, 
considerate  and  humane  man,  an  honour  to  the  noble 
profession  of  which  he  had  been  so  distinguished  a 
member  ? 


CHAPTER  XXII 

A    FISH   OUT  OF  WATER 

T  AS  CASES  having  been  got  rid  of,  the  household  at 
Long  wood  now  consisted  of  the  "  Grand  Marechal " 
Bertrand  and  his  wife  and  family,  the  Comte  and  Com- 
tesse  de  Montholon  and  their  children,  and  General 
Gourgaud. 

One  would  have  supposed  that  harmony  would  now 
have  reigned  in  the  Emperor's  "court."  Las  Cases  had 
been  the  one  member  of  the  suite  upon  whom  the 
jealousy  and  disUke  of  the  others  had  been  concentrated. 
He  was  the  labourer  who  had  come  into  the  vineyard, 
so  to  speak,  at  the  eleventh  hour.  He  had  started  as 
a  fanatical  royalist,  and  for  a  considerable  period  of 
his  Ufe  had  been  an  emigre,  and  during  many  years  a 
resident  in  perflde  Albion.  In  the  eyes  of  the  others, 
therefore,  he  was  an  interloper  and  a  suspect.  They 
had  been  EepubUcans  Uke  their  master,  whose  fortunes 
they  had  followed  through  all  his  protean  changes  ; 
they  had  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day ;  and  yet 
here  was  this  tardy  disciple,  not  only  received  on  an 
equaUty   with   them,   but   singled   out   as   the  special 

225  P 


220  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

favourite  and  confidant  of  their  master,  who  lavished 
on  him  tenfold  the  amomit  of  attention  which  was 
bestowed   on   them.     The   reason   of   this   favouritism 
was  not  far  to  seek.     Las  Cases  was  a  born  courtier, 
thoroughly  versed  in  all  the  arts  of  subserviency  and 
flattery   essential   to   success   in   that   particular  role. 
He  never  contradicted  Napoleon  ;    and  seldom  even 
asked  him   questions,   allowing  him  to  pour  out  his 
distortions  of  fact  and  perversions  of  history  without 
ever  challenging  their  accuracy.    In  fact  he  was  the 
priest  before  the  oracle,  and  to  the  Napoleonic  deity  he 
offered  a  daily,  nay  hourly,  tribute  of  highly  perfumed 
incense.    This    was    exactly    what   his   master   loved. 
As  truth  was  always  to  Napoleon  the  most  abhorrent 
of  things,  it  was  ecstasy  to  him  to  find  a  worshipper  who 
could   swallow   all   his   falsehoods   without   turning   a 
hair.    Hence  he  deUghted  in  the  Count's  society,  and 
hence  also  the  others  hated  the  favourite  as  only  favour- 
ites can  be  hated.    ^  His  amiable  colleagues  at  Longwood 
called  him  "  the  Jesuit." 

^  Of  the  three  who  now  remained  at  Longwood,  one 
was  a  thoroughly  honest,  truthful  man,  and  it  is  perhaps 
qu\te  needless  to  say  that  as  such,  he  found  himself  in 
anything  but  a  happy  position  amidst  that  atmosphere 
of  fraud.  General  Gourgaud  was  a  bluff,  straight- 
forward soldier.    He  had  shown  himself  a  brave  and 

1  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  i.  p.  239. 

'  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  p.  47, 


A  FISH  OUT  OF  WATER  227 

able  ofl&cer  of  artillery,  and  had  distinguished  himself 
greatly  during  the  campaign  of  1813.  His  promotion 
had  been  rapid,  and  as  a  soldier  Napoleon  held  him 
in  high  esteem.  But  almost  immediately  after  the 
arrival  of  the  exiles  at  St.  Helena,  Gourgaud's  relations 
with  his  master  became  very  cool  indeed.  He  was  the 
very  antithesis  of  Las  Cases,  with  an  inveterate  and 
irrepressible  habit  of  blurting  out  unpleasant  truths 
at  the  most  unseasonable  times.  So  far  did  he  carry 
this  unpalatable  veracity,  that  on  one  occasion 
Napoleon  angrily  exclaimed  :  ^  "  "What  does  your  being 
an  honest  man  matter  to  me  ?  You  ought  to  have  no 
other  object  than  to  make  yourself  agreeable  to  me. 
You  possess  the  virtues  of  a  savage,  while  Las  Cases 
is  as  sweet  as  a  woman.  You  are  jealous  of  him,  and 
you  have  the  indecency  to  let  him  see  it." 

After  the  disappearance  of  Las  Cases,  Bertrand  and 
Montholon  directed  all  their  immense  powers  of  per- 
secution against  the  General,  and  lost  no  opportunity 
of  widening  the  already  existing  breach  between  him 
and  his  master.  2  Gourgaud's  position  had  always 
been  an  unhappy  one.  While  Las  Cases  Hved  in  con- 
stant companionship  with  his  son  and  the  Emperor, 
and  Bertrand  and  Montholon  had  their  wives  and  fami- 
lies to  mitigate  their  exile,  Gourgaud  lived  in  complete 

^  Journal  Inedit  de  Sainte  Helene,  Baron  Gourgaud,  vol.  i. 
chap.  6,  p.  344. 

2  Events  of  a  Military  Lije,  Henry,  vol.  i.  p.  47, 


228  THE  REAL  MARTYR,  OF  ST.  HELENA 

isolation.  He  had  irritated  Napoleon  by  his  unfortunate 
tendency  to  speak  the  truth,  and  was  quite  out  of  touch 
with  his  fellow-exiles.  Moreover,  his  honest,  manly 
nature  revolted  at  the  deceit  and  trickery  he  saw  going 
on  around  him,  in  which  Napoleon  himself  was  the 
leader.  He  writes  in  his  Journal,  ^ "  I  see  around  me 
many  intrigues  and  much  deception.  Pauvre  Gour- 
gaud !  Qu'aUais-tu  faire  dans  cette  galere  ?  "  He  ex- 
pressed strong  disapproval  of  the  Emperor's  attitude 
towards  the  Governor,  and  particularly  of  the  letter 
written  by  him  to  Las  Cases,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made.  De  Montholon  took  care  to  repeat 
the  General's  remarks  to  his  master,  with  embelhsh- 
ments  of  his  own.  Extreme  irritation  was  produced 
in  Gourgaud's  mind  when  he  found  what  Montholon 
was  doing,  and  he  threatened  to  slap  his  face  and  call 
him  out.  ^  A  violent  quarrel  broke  out  between  Napo- 
leon and  Gourgaud,  occasioned  by  a  discussion  on  the 
Moscow  campaign,  about  which  (a  sore  subject,  naturally, 
with  the  Emperor)  Gourgaud  expressed  himself  with 
injudicious  frankness.  From  this  they  drifted  off  to  a 
blunt  criticism  by  the  General  of  Napoleon's  conduct 
after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  Gourgaud  expressing  the 
opinion  that  the  Emperor  should  not  have  surrendered 
to  England,  but  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Army 
of  the  Loire  and  continued  the  struggle.     The  result  of 

1  Talks  of  Napoleon  at  St.   Helena,   Latimer,  p.   32. 
-  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  188,  etc. 


A  FISH  OUT  OF  WATER  229 

this  encounter  was  that  the  two  were  not  on  speaking 
terms  for  a  fortnight.  This  quarrel  was  adjusted,  but 
the  truce  was  short -Hved.  Gourgaud  found  himself  in 
disagreement  with  the  rest  on  the  subject  of  Lowe's 
conduct,  which  he  denied  had  been  harsh  or  unkind. 
^  He  said  to  Count  Balmain,  the  Eussian  Commissioner, 
that  he  strongly  disapproved  of  Napoleon's  behaviour 
towards  Lowe  personally,  and  avowed  that  had  he 
been  in  the  Governor's  place  he  would  have  acted  with 
more  rigour — "  Je  les  aurais  bloques  plus  etroitement ; 
il  a  cause  de  se  plaindre,"  was  his  exact  expression,  a 
valuable  testimony,  from  a  man  who  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  facts,  that  Napoleon  and  not  the 
Governor  was  in  the  wrong. 

2  He  was  also  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  affair  of 
the  plate-selHng.  After  leaving  Longwood,  he  told 
the  Governor  that  at  the  very  moment  when  this 
"  heroic  sacrifice "  was  being  made  (which  Gourgaud 
described  as  a  most  unworthy  trick),  the  exiles  were 
actually  in  possession  of  a  large  simi  in  gold,  and 
were  plentifully  supplied  with  resources  of  every  kind. 
The  Governor  suggested  that  perhaps  this  money  was 
contributed  by  Las  Cases.  "Oh,  no,"  was  the  reply, 
"  before  Las  Cases'  donation  was  received  they  had 
Fes.  240,000  in  gold,  a  large  part  in  Spanish  doubloons  ; 
oh,  they  have  no  want  of  money."    He  went  on  to  say 

1  Lowe  Papers,   Forsyth,    vol.    ii.    p.    190. 

2  Ibid.  pp.  259,  260. 


230     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

that  Prince  Eugene  Beauharnais  had  lodged  a  large 
sum  with  his  bankers  to  Napoleon's  credit ;  and  he 
also  told  Stiirmer,  the  Austrian  Commissioner,  that 
Las  Cases  had  received  an  order  for  Fes.  200,000,  so  that 
his  "gift"  of  4,000  louis  had  been  repaid  twice  over. 
It  thus  appears  that  this  "generous  contribution" 
in  aid  of  his  "  penniless  "  hero,  was,  Uke  the  breaking 
up  of  the  silver,  a  "  put  up  job,"  to  promote  the  fiction 
of  Napoleon's  destitution,  and  that  the  Count,  under  a 
pretence  of  sublime  self-sacrifice,  had  made  a  very 
good  thing  out  of  the  transaction.  Lord  Bathurst's 
indignation  at  the  episode  was  therefore  entirely  un- 
necessary. 

Apart  from  his  abhorrence  of  the  disreputable  on- 
goings of  his  associates,  Gourgaud's  fife  was  very 
wretched.  O'Meara  told  the  Governor  that  the  poor 
General  lived  miserably  and  almost  always  alone,  sel- 
dom seeing  the  Emperor,  and  only  dining  with  him  now 
and  then  on  a  Sunday,  when  specially  invited,  but  by 
no  means  so  often  as  Bertrand  and  Montholon.  It 
is  not  a  matter  for  surprise  that  this  woietched  existence 
rapidly  told  upon  the  General's  health.  To  a  man 
accustomed  to  the  stirring  Ufe  of  a  soldier,  and  the 
good-fellowship  which  it  affords,  it  must  have  been 
terrible  to  find  himself  on  a  remote  island  in  the  Atlan- 
tic, in  the  hands  of  his  former  enemies,  and  not  only 
without  the  mitigating  sympathy  of  his  master  and 
compatriots,  but  treated  by  them  either   with  entire 


A  FISH  OUT  OF  WATER  231 

neglect  or  bitter  hostility.  He  soon  fell  into  a  state  of 
extreme  despondency,  and  at  last,  on  the  6th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1818,  O'Meara  told  the  Governor  that  Gourgaud, 
unable  longer  to  bear  the  Emperor's  outbursts  of  ill- 
temper  and  the  hundred  and  one  other  indignities  to 
which  he  was  subjected,  desired  permission  to  leave 
the  island.  He  told  O'Meara  that  Montholon's  conduct 
towards  him  had  become  unbearable,  and  the  surgeon 
described  him  as  wdth  tears  in  his  eyes  and  in  the  lowest 
state  of  depression. 

^  On  the  7th  Gourgaud  called  on  the  Governor  at 
Plantation  House,  and  begged  to  be  removed  as  quickly 
as  possible  from  Longwood.  He  said,  "  I  can  no  longer 
live  there  without  dishonour,  I  have  been  treated  hke 
a  dog.  I  would  rather  die  in  a  French  prison  than  live 
here,  acting  the  part  of  chamberlain,  with  total  loss 
of  my  independence.  He  (Napoleon)  has  wished  me 
to  do  things  contrary  to  my  honour,  or  force  me  by  bad 
treatment  to  leave  him." 

The  Governor  pointed  out  to  the  General  that  his 
departure  from  Longwood  might  subject  him  to  mis- 
construction. He  might  either  be  regarded  as  a  person 
charged  by  Napoleon  with  secret  communications  for 
Europe,  or  reproached  for  having  abandoned  him. 
Gourgaud  repUed  that  as  to  the  first,  he  was  well  aware 
that  he  would  be  hable  to  such  a  suspicion,  and  he 
therefore  wished  to  be  treated  with  every  rigour.  He 
^  Lowe  Papers,    Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  247. 


232  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

would  be  perfectly  satisfied,  when  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, to  be  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  France.  With  regard 
to  the  other  point  he  said,  "  I  am  quite  indifferent.  Let 
them  attack  me — I  will  answer.  I  would  rather  be  in 
prison  than  continue  to  hve  in  the  manner  we  go  on 
here." 

De  Montholon  {Recits)  says  that  Gourgaud's  depar- 
ture had  become  necessary  owing  to  his  faihng  health, 
and  the  Emperor  availed  himself  of  this  opportunity 
to  have  the  real  truth  concerning  his  sufferings  made 
known  in  Europe.  Like  all  the  rest  of  the  statements 
issuing  from  Longwood,  this  was  contrary  to  fact. 
An  angry  correspondence  had  been  exchanged  between 
himself  and  Gourgaud  before  the  latter  applied  for  per- 
mission to  go,  and  the  General  had  challenged  Montholon 
to  mortal  combat.  Indeed,  so  apprehensive  was  the 
Governor  of  the  quarrel  ending  in  a  duel  that  he  gave 
particular  instructions  to  the  orderly  officer  at  Longwood 
to  be  on  the  alert  to  prevent  it, 

^  On  the  8th  of  February  the  Governor  wrote  to  Gour- 
gaud that  he  would  be  happy  to  facihtate  his  object  as 
early  as  the  nature  of  his  instructions  would  permit, 
and  that  meanwhile,  he  would  have  apartments  allotted 
for  his  residence  ujitil  an  opportunity  occurred  for  his 
departure  from  the  island. 

Gourgaud  accordingly  bade  farewell  to  Longwood  and 

*  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  248. 


A  FISH  OUT  OF  WATER  233 

was  installed  in  comfortable  quarters  in  another  house 
at  the  expense  of  the  Government,  where  he  had  a 
pleasant  companion  in  Lieutenant  Jackson,  who  after- 
wards corrected  many  of  the  falsehoods  emanating 
from  the  French  exiles. 

1  During  an  examination  of  his  papers  by  Major 
Gorrequer,  Gourgaud  freely  conversed  with  that  oflB.cer 
and  gave  him  some  interesting  facts  in  connection  with 
the  doings  of  the  Longwood  Tnenage.  He  told  the 
Major  that  they  never  had  any  difficulty  in  getting 
letters  away  without  passing  them  through  the  Gover- 
nor's hands.  Personally,  he  had  only  sent  one,  and 
that  was  to  his  mother,  but  he  could  have  sent  thirty 
had  he  wanted  to.  "I  have  been  treated  Uke  a  dog," 
he  said.  "  They  wished  to  compromise  me  that  I 
might  be  obhged  to  remain  there  all  my  Hfe."  Had  an 
angel,  he  added,  been  sent  to  St.  Helena  as  Governor, 
it  would  have  been  all  the  same.  Had  Napoleon  been 
allowed  the  run  of  the  whole  island,  he  would  have  been 
equally  dissatisfied.  It  was  not  merely  Longwood,  it 
was  St.  Helena  itself  that  he  objected  to.  "  After  all," 
said  the  General,  "  he  has  been  Emperor  and  is  such  no 
longer,  et  voild  ce  que  c'est."  He  said  further  that  the 
best  mode  of  paying  court  to  Napoleon  was  to  speak 
ill  of  the  Governor ;  but  the  abuse  of  Lowe  by  the 
Emperor  was  not  a  personal  matter ;  it  was  par  poli- 

1  Ibid.  p.  250. 


234  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OE  ST.  HELENA 

tique ;    he  had  always  hoped   to  obtain   something   d 
force  de  plaintes. 

^In  after  years  Lieut.-Col.  Jackson,  as  he  had  then 
become  (Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  66th  Regiment  stationed 
at  St.  Helena  from  1817  to  1821),  in  letters  to  Mr.  Henry, 
published  in  that  gentleman's  Events  of  a  Military 
Life,  narrated  the  circumstances  attending  Gourgaud's 
departure.  He  mentions  incidentally  that  Napoleon 
himseK  fomented  jealousies  among  his  suite,  on  the 
principle  divide  et  imjjera  (just  as  he  had  done,  by  the 
way,  "with  regard  to  his  marshals — see  Segur's  Moscow 
Campaign),  and  that  he  (Jackson)  fancied  Las  Cases 
was  glad  to  get  out  of  the  mess.  Gourgaud  at  length, 
says  Jackson,  found  his  isolated  position  intolerable, 
and  when  in  his  new  quarters,  nothing  could  exceed  the 
Governor's  attention  and  hospitahty  to  him.  ^ "  In 
justice,"  he  proceeds,  "  to  that  excellent  and  grossly 
mahgned  individual,  I  shall  now  relate  a  circumstance 
which  I  am  sure  General  Gourgaud  will  be  ready  to 
confirm.  ^The  General  had  an  interview  with  Lowe 
at  Plantation  House,  on  leaving  Longwood,  and  when 
riding  back  with  me,  he  broke  out  into  strong  exclamations 
of  surprise  that  Lowe  should  simply  have  received 
him  as  one  gentleman  would  receive  another,  without 
even  alluding  to   Longwood.     '  Je  ne  reviens  pas  de 

1  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  p.  47. 

2  Ibid.  p.  48. 

3  Ibid.  p.  6. 


A  FISH  OUT  OF  WATER  235 

7non  etonnement,  non,  je  n'en  reviens  pas,^  he  exclaimed. 
I  may  add  that  I  had  many  opportunities  of  remarking 
the  really  chivalrous  dehcacy  of  Lowe  in  reference  to 
Gourgaud." 

^With  regard  to  Bertrand,  his  conduct  greatly 
incensed  Gourgaud,  who  repeated  to  Lowe  a  remark 
made  by  Napoleon  that  Talleyrand's  description  of 
the  "Grand  Marechal"  was  perfectly  just — ''que 
c'etait  Vhomme  le  flus  faux  el  le  plus  dissimule  de  la 
France."  It  is  true  that  Talleyrand  must  have  forgotten 
his  own  existence  when  he  made  the  remark. 

At  last  the  time  approached  when  Gourgaud's  ardent 
desire  to  leave  St.  Helena  was  about  to  be  gratified. 
^  O'Meara,  who  never  missed  an  opportunity  of  gratifying 
his  mahgnant  propensity  for  slander,  asserted  that  Gour- 
gaud tried  to  blackmail  his  master,  under  the  threat 
of  writing  the  truth  about'  him  and  his  friends  on  his 
return  to  Europe.  ^  The  fact  is  that  Napoleon  offered 
him  Fes.  12,000,  which  the  General  refused,  being  deter- 
mined to  incur  no  monetary  obhgation  towards  the 
man  who  had  treated  him  so  ungratefully.  Being 
entirely  without  means,  he  asked  Bertrand  to  advance 
hun  two  or  three  hundred  pounds  to  get  him  to  Europe. 
The  "  Grand  Marechal "  dechned,  on  the  ground  that 
the  General's  refusal  of  Napoleon's  offer  was  an  act  of 

1  Lowe  Papers,  Forsj'^th,  vol.  ii.  p.  260. 

2  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  p.  47. 

3  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  49. 


236  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

gross  disrespect  to  the  great  man.  He  would,  however, 
lend  him  the  money,  conditionally  on  Gourgaud'a 
accepting  the  Emperor's  ofier.  ^  This  the  General 
firmly  declined  to  do,  and  as  he  was  absolutely  penniless, 
the  brutal,  inhuman  Governor  gave  him  a  himdred 
pounds  out  of  his  own  pocket.  No  wonder  Lowe  has 
been  denounced  by  Napoleonists  ever  since  as  an  in- 
famous scoundrel ! 

^  Events  of  a  Militarij  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  pp.  49,  50. 


CHAPTEK  XXin 

MEDICO  AND   "  MOUTON  " 

/^  OIIRGrAUD  having  followed  Las  Cases,  the  field 
^^  remained  in  the  undisputed  possession  of  the 
*'  Grand  Marechal "  and  the  Comte  de  Montholon. 
There  was,  however,  a  third  denizen  of  Long  wood, 
who  now  comes  prominently  into  view,  the  Irish  surgeon , 
Barry  O'Meara,  a  biographical  sketch  of  whom  has 
already  been  given,  but  about  whom  we  must  now  say 
a  good  deal  more.  His  conduct  greatly  added  to  the 
Governor's  embarrassments,  and  was  without  the 
excuses  that  can  be  advanced  for  the  French  residents 
at  Longwood.  They,  at  all  events,  were  avowed  parti- 
sans of  Napoleon.  To  him  they  owed  all  the  distinction 
they  had  acquired  ;  and  so  far  from  feehng  called  upon 
to  exert  their  influence  in  favour  of  Sir  Hudson,  they 
very  naturally  looked  upon  him  as  the  embodiment  of 
that  Power  with  which  they  had  been  struggUng  for 
twenty  years,  and  which,  as  their  master  himself  had 
said,  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  coaUtion  against  him. 
O'Meara's  case  was  very  difierent.  He  had,  as  we 
have  seen,  been  during  all  his  active  life  in  the  service 

237 


238  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

of  England,  first  as  an  army  surgeon,  and  afterwards 
entering  the  navy  in  the  same  capacity.  As  a  British 
officer  it  was  his  manifest  duty  to  co-operate  with  the 
Governor ;  not,  of  course,  to  do  anything  dishonourable, 
but  loyally  and  heartily  to  support  Sir  Hudson  in  the 
most  arduous  and  delicate  position  in  which  he  was 
placed.  So  far  from  acting  in  this  manner,  he  was 
a  greater  thorn  in  Lowe's  side  than  all  the  Frenchmen 
combined,  thwarting  the  Governor  in  every  possible 
way  ;  defying  the  regulations  ;  and  assuming  towards 
Lowe  an  attitude  of  insolence  and  insult  which  was 
only  second  to  that  of  Napoleon  himself. 

The  fundamental  cause  of  this  extraordinary  conduct 
was  the  character  of  the  man  himself.  He  was  the  type 
of  a  certain  class  not  rare  among  Irishmen.  He  was 
afflicted  with  a  colossal  vanity  and  self-conceit ;  com- 
bined with  an  instinctive  deHght  in  defying  the  authori- 
ties under  whom  he  was  placed ;  and  he  had  a  perfect 
mania  for  duplicity  and  intrigue.  He  seemed  utterly 
incapable  of  doing  anything  in  an  open,  straightforward 
manner  if  the  end  could  by  any  possibility  be  gained  by 
deceit.  To  such  a  nature  the  position  of  affairs  at  St. 
Helena  offered  a  splendid  opportunity  ;  and  it  almost 
seems  as  if  a  malignant  demon  had  contrived  to  place 
him  there. 

He  had  met  Napoleon  on  the  Northumberland,  and 
soon  attracted  the  Emperor's  notice  by  his  knowledge 
of  Italian,  the  language  which  was  Napoleon's  native 


MEDICO  AND   "  MOUTON  "  239 

tongue,  and  which  he  spoke  far  more  readily  than 
French.  In  fact,  whenever  he  met  any  one  who  could 
speak  Itahan  he  preferred  to  use  it  as  a  vehicle  for  con- 
versation. To  be  noticed  by  a  world-wide  celebrity 
like  Napoleon  naturally  flattered  the  vanity  of  this 
excessively  vain  Irishman  ;  but  to  be  singled  out  later 
on  as  that  celebrity's  personal  medical  adviser  must 
have  uplifted  him  to  the  very  empyrean  of  self-conceit. 
Napoleon  asked  the  British  Admiralty  to  permit  O'Meara 
to  be  attached  to  him  in  that  capacity,  and  in  an  evil 
moment  the  permission  was  granted.  It  was  then 
merely  a  question  of  time  and  dexterity  for  the  Irish 
surgeon  to  become  plus  royaliste  que  le  roi. 

Napoleon,  with  that  instinct  of  cunning  which  he 
possessed  in  a  supreme  degree,  saw  at  a  glance  that 
O'Meara  was  just  the  man  he  wanted.  His  French 
partisans  suffered  from  the  drawback  of  being  French. 
Their  evidence  must  inevitably  be  impregnated  with 
doubt ;  the  world  would  naturally  discount  statements 
emanating  from  Galilean  sources.  To  carry  conviction, 
it  was  of  supreme  importance  for  Napoleon  to  procure 
as  an  advocate  a  subject  of  the  Power  that  had  been 
his  most  inveterate  enemy,  and  if  that  subject  held  a 
commission  in  the  naval  or  military  forces  of  Britain, 
his  testimony  would  be  accepted  as  "  confirmation 
strong  as  proof  of  holy  writ."  His  penetrating  eye  saw 
in  Barry  O'Meara  an  ideal  instrument,  and  he  laid 
himself  out  at  once  to  land  his  fish.    We  know  that 


240  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Napoleon  was  a  consummate  master  of  the  art  of 
cajolery.  Not  a  single  visitor  to  Longwood  that  passed 
through  his  hands,  but  was  dehghted  with  the  charm 
of  the  exile,  and  left  him  persuaded  that  he  was  the 
most  misjudged  and  most  harshly  treated  of  victims. 
He  therefore  had  an  easy  task  with  a  person  of  O'Meara's 
nature  ;  playing  upon  his  vanity  as  a  man  and  a  phy- 
sician ;  treating  him  as  a  confidential  friend  and  paying 
deference  to  him  in  his  professional  capacity.  In  addition 
to  his  inordinate  vanity  O'Meara's  instinctive  love  of 
intrigue  came  into  play.  It  was  difiicult  even  for  an 
honest  man  to  remain  honest  in  the  atmosphere  of  Long- 
wood,  but  O'Meara  took  to  crooked  courses  as  naturally 
as  a  duck  takes  to  water,  and  he  very  soon  became  an 
adept  in  all  the  tricks  that  were  being  played  in  the 
Emperor's  household ;  and,  what  must  have  been  to 
him  the  acme  of  ecstasy,  he  found  himself  able  to  act 
the  double  part  of  friend  and  confidant  to  Napoleon 
and  agent  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe.  Thus  every  chord  of 
his  nature  was  touched,  and  for  some  twenty  months 
he  must  have  led  what  was  for  him  an  ideal  existence. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  before  he  was  definitely 
installed  at  Longwood,  the  Emperor  had  asked  him 
whether  he  considered  himself  solely  and  simply  his 
medical  adviser,  or  whether  he  was  also  to  figure  as  the 
confidential  agent  of  the  Governor,  in  which  case  Napo- 
leon said  he  had  no  wish  to  employ  his  services ;  and 
that  O'Meara  had  rephed  that  he  could  not  conceive 


MEDICO  AND  "  MOUTON  "  241 

being  asked  to  act  as  a  spy  by  Sir  Hudson,  nor  would 
he,  if  asked,  under  any  circumstances,  consent  to  do 
so.  Not  only,  however,  did  he  at  many  interview's  im- 
part to  the  Governor  all  he  saw  and  heard  at  Longwood, 
but  he  kept  a  diary  in  which  he  recorded  daily  all  the 
details  which  he  afterwards  so  communicated.  Nay,  he 
did  more  than  this,  for  his  daily  records  were  trans- 
mitted freely  and  fully  to  his  friend,  Mr.  John  Finlaison, 
of  the  Admiralty,  who  handed  these  lively  and  interesting 
letters  to  his  chief,  Mr.  John  Wilson  Croker,  who  in 
turn  passed  them  on  to  Lord  Bathurst,  so  that  the 
whole  inner  Hfe  of  Longwood  was  graphically  laid  bare 
both  to  the  British  authorities  at  St.  Helena  and  in 
London  by  this  high-souled  incarnation  of  rectitude, 
the  Irish  surgeon.  It  was  in  this  way  that  his  veracious 
letters  to  Mr.  Finlaison  were  carefully  preserved,  and 
proved  an  invaluable  antidote  to  the  wholesale  false- 
hoods of  his  book  A  Voice  from  St.  Helena. 

It  is  a  matter  of  interest  to  know  how  this  correspon- 
dence began,  because  the  facts  throw  an  additional  light 
upon  O'Meara's  monstrous  treachery.  The  particulars 
were  given  afterwards  by  Mr.  Finlaison  in  a  letter  to 
the  Morning  Chronicle  dated  3rd  of  March,  1823,  in  which 
he  exposed  a  gross  falsehood  about  himself  in  O'Meara's 
lying  production. 

The  two  men  had  been  friends  for  some  time,  and  in 
July,  1815,  Mr.  Finlaison  received  from  the  surgeon  a 
private  letter  giving  information  about  Napoleon  and 

Q 


242  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

his  suite.  Certain  expressions  which  it  contained  led 
the  recipient  to  doubt  the  propriety  of  entertaining 
such  correspondence  without  the  sanction  of  his  official 
superiors.  He  therefore  communicated  the  letter  to 
Mr.  Croker,  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty,  who  referred 
the  matter  to  Lord  Melville.  That  nobleman  saw  no 
reason  against  continuing  the  relations  thus  begun, 
as  it  might  be  advantageous  to  learn  from  an  impartial 
and  near  observer  the  situation  of  the  Emperor  and 
his  friends.  In  order,  however,  that  no  suggestion  of 
duplicity  should  attach  to  the  matter,  he  desired  Mr. 
Finlaison  to  apprize  O'Meara  that  his  letters  would  be 
seen  by  the  Ministers.  O'Meara  next  asked  his  friend 
to  use  his  influence  to  get  him  confirmed  in  his  appoint- 
ment as  Napoleon's  surgeon,  and  continued  thus : 
"It  is  my  intention  to  collect  every  anecdote  I  can 
from  Napoleon  and  those  about  him,  and  perhaps  my 
being  near  him  might  not  be  of  disservice  to  the  Govern- 
ment, especially  if  he  entertained  thoughts  of  escape  ; 
at  least,  my  being  constantly  near  him  would  probably 
lead  to  a  discovery  of  any  plans  he  might  hereafter 
project." 

Mr.  Finlaison  observes  in  his  letter  to  the  Morning 
Chronicle  that  he  quotes  this  passage  to  show  that  he 
was  not  authorized  to  originate  any  proposal  to  O'Meara 
to  give  intelhgence  relative  to  Napoleon,  and  did  not 
in  fact  do  so,  but  that  the  proposition  came  voluntarily 
from  his  friend. 


MEDICO  AND  "MOUTON"  243 

The  letters,  on  arrival,  were  passed  on  to  Mr.  Croker, 
who  had  them  copied  for  the  perusal  of  the  Ministers. 
There  were  some  passages  which  Croker  refused  to 
have  copied,  for  O'Meara  was  blackguard  enough  to 
make  therein  indehcate  reflections  on  some  of  the  French 
ladies  and  others,  quite  unfit  for  publication.  We 
thus  find  that  this  unscrupulous  rascal,  who,  as  we 
shall  see,  ranted  about  his  high-flown  principles  of 
professional  honour,  offered  to  act  as  spy  while  posing  as 
doctor,  as  an  inducement  to  the  Ministry  to  ratify  his 
appointment  at  Longwood.  Could  baseness  descend 
to  lower  depths  than  this  ! 

After  this  double  hfe  had  been  led  by  O'Meara  for 
some  twenty  months,  a  coolness  gradually  sprang  up 
between  him  and  Sir  Hudson.  It  would  seem  that  this 
game  had  commenced  to  lose  its  attractions,  and  that 
his  instinct  of  being  "  agin  the  Government "  began  to 
assert  itself.  In  an  interview  between  Lowe  and 
O'Meara  on  the  25th  of  November,  1817,  an  explosion 
took  place.  ^  Major  Gorrequer  was  present  and  took 
a  memorandum  of  the  conversation.  The  Governor 
asked  O'Meara  whether  "  there  was  no  subject  spoken 
of  between  him  and  Napoleon  fit  for  him  (the  Governor) 
to  hear.  Whether  there  was  nothing  of  sufficient  im- 
portance for  him  to  be  informed  of."  This,  of  course, 
was  asked  by  Lowe  as  a  natural  question,  arising  out 
of  the  voluntary  and  unasked  for  communications 
*  Lowe  Papers,  Forsyth,  vol.  ii.  p.  235. 


244  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

which  had  been  made  by  O'Meara  regularly  for  so 
many  months  past.  To  the  Governor's  astonishment 
the  surgeon,  for  the  first  time  in  his  experience,  assumed 
an  air  of  virtuous  indignation,  and  told  Lowe  that  to 
ask  him  to  repeat  what  had  been  said  by  Napoleon 
in  private  conversation  was  to  ask  him  to  become  a 
spy  and  a  "  mouton."  Lowe,  stung  by  the  affront, 
hotly  replied  that  the  expressions  used  by  O'Meara  were 
the  most  insulting  and  disrespectful  that  could  be 
used  towards  him  as  Governor  of  the  island,  and  asked 
O'Meara  what  he  meant  by  the  word  7nouton.  O'Meara 
rejoined  with  consummate  impertinence  that  it  meant 
a  person  who  insinuated  himself  into  the  confidence 
of  others  for  the  purpose  of  extracting  information 
or  secrets  from  them,  and  then  repeating  what  he  had 
heard.  The  Governor  said  he  could  not  suffer  a  person 
to  sit  down  in  the  same  room  with  him  who  treated 
him  in  so  insulting  and  disrespectful  a  manner  as  O'Meara 
had  just  done,  and  desired  him  to  rise  and  quit  it ; 
adding  that  if  it  was  not  for  consideration  for  Napoleon's 
feelings  O'Meara  should  not  stay  another  hour  in  the 
island.  "  I  should  not  be  sorry  for  that,"  retorted 
O'Meara  ;  but  instead  of  leaving  the  room,  he  remained 
inside  the  door,  and  began  saying  he  would  leave  it 
to  anybody  whether,  if  he  acted  in  the  way  he  had 
mentioned,  he  would  not  be  considered  a  spy  and  a 
mouton.  The  Governor  thereupon  again  desired  O'Meara 
to  quit  the  room,  and  to  come  only  when  sent  for. 


MEDICO  AND  "  MOUTON  "  245 

On  the  18th  of  December,  1817,  O'Meara  was  again 
summoned  to  Plantation  House,  and  the  surgeon  after- 
wards gave  a  most  mendacious  account  of  what  occurred 
in  his  ^  Voice  from  Si.  Helena.  According  to  that 
version  the  Governor  insulted  him  more  outrageously 
than  before,  and  followed  him  out  of  the  room,  vociferatiug 
after  him  in  a  frantic  manner,  and  carried  his  gestures 
so  far  as  to  menace  him  with  personal  violence. 

2  Fortunately,  in  this  case  also  we  have  a  corrective 
to  this  tissue  of  falsehoods  in  the  minute  recorded  by 
Major  Gorrequer,  which  puts  a  very  difierent  complexion 
on  the  episode,  and  gives  particulars  which  O'Meara 
very  judiciously  omits  from  his  book.  The  Major  says 
that  O'Meara  confessed  to  the  Governor,  on  this  occasion, 
after  much  hesitation  and  with  great  reluctance,  that 
notwithstanding  his  frequent  spontaneous  communica- 
tions to  Lowe,  and  his  series  of  gossiping  and  garrulous 
letters  to  Finlaison  from  May,  1816,  to  December,  1817, 
he  was  during  the  whole  of  that  period  under  a  pledge 
to  Napoleon  not  to  reveal  conversations  that  passed 
between  them,  unless  they  related  to  his  escape.  The 
Governor  expressed  his  indignation,  and  asked  him  how 
then  had  he  reported  to  him  so  many  conversations 
which  had  no  tendency  whatever  to  an  escape  ? 

The  fact  is,  O'Meara  had  impaled  himself,  by  his  own 
admission,  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma.    Either  he  was 

^  A    Voice  from  St.  Helena,  vol.   ii.   p.  347. 
'^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  239. 


246  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

acting  a  treacherous  part  to  his  country  by  giving 
such  a  promise,  or  having  given  it,  he  was  acting  dis- 
honourably to  Napoleon  by  consistently  and  persistently 
breaking  it.  It  was,  perhaps,  merely  a  thoughtless 
indiscretion  that  he,  as  a  British  olB&cer,  had  committed 
in  entering  into  a  secret  pact  with  a  prisoner  of  State, 
and  as  such  was  a  comparatively  venial  offence,  but 
what  terms  can  be  too  severe  to  condemn  a  man  who 
repeatedly  violated  a  solemn  pledge  over  a  continuous 
period  of  twenty  months  ? 

After  this,  there  is  a  subhme  effrontery  in  O'Meara's 
letter  of  the  23rd  of  December  to  the  Governor,  wherein 
he  waxes  eloquent  upon  the  turpitude  of  a  physician 
who  insinuates  himself  into  the  confidence  of  a  patient 
and  abuses  his  position  to  wring  from  him,  under  the 
pretext  of  being  near  his  person,  disclosures  of  the 
patient's  sentiments  for  the  purpose  of  betraying  them 
afterwards — such  a  man  deserves  most  justly  to  be 
branded  with  the  appellation  of  mouton.  Now,  seeing 
that  this  was  exactly  what  O'Meara  had  been  doing 
voluntarily  for  nearly  two  years,  he  would  appear  to 
have  been  extremely  anxious  to  condemn  himself  out 
of  his  own  mouth.  He  also  said  it  was  his  practice 
to  forget  the  conversations  of  patients  on  leaving  their 
room.  ^  If  so,  it  was  a  custom  more  honoured  by  him 
in  the  breach  than  in  the  observance,  seeing  he  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  guarding  against  this  customary 
^  Lotve  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  242. 


MEDICO  AND   "  MOUTON ''  247 

forgetfulness  by  hurrying  to  his  room  after  a  chat  with 
the  Emperor  and  carefully  recording  all  that  great  man's 
remarks  in  his  diary.  Moreover,  at  a  later  period  he  did 
not  scruple  to  pubHsh  for  profit  all  Napoleon's  sayings, 
which  he  had  heard  solely  as  physician  ;  and  from  time 
to  time  sent  detailed  narratives  of  the  most  confidential 
conversations  with  Napoleon  to  his  friend  Finlaison  of 
the  Admiralty,  to  be  by  that  friend,  as  we  have  said, 
communicated  in  due  course  to  the  Ministers  of  the 
Crown ! 

And  this  Finlaison  correspondence  actually  continued 
for  some  time  after  the  tricky  surgeon's  fustian  about 
the  sacred  duty  of  a  physician,  for  the  Governor  was 
officially  informed  of  the  fact  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Goul- 
burn,  dated  23rd  of  January,  1818,  in  which  the  writer 
says :  "  Lord  Bathurst  thinks  it  proper  you  should 
be  informed  that  this  correspondence  is  still  kept  up, 
and  is  so  with  his  lordship's  knowledge,  for  as  the  letters 
are  received  from  Dr.  O'Meara  they  are  regularly  sub- 
mitted for  Lord  Bathurst's  perusal.  He  has  thought 
it  advisable  not  to  do  anything  which,  by  driving  Dr. 
O'Meara  to  seek  another  channel  of  correspondence, 
might  deprive  Lord  Bathurst  of  the  knowledge  of  its 
contents  and  of  the  objects  with  which  it  is  evident  his 
communications  are  made." 

Thus,  we  see,  that  O'Meara's  position  had  become 
very  awkward.  He  had  declared  open  war  against  the 
Governor,  and  was  therefore  impossible  as  an  English 


248  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

officer ;  while,  by  continuing  his  revelations  of  the 
inner  life  at  Longwood,  after  he  had  indulged  in  heroics 
on  the  turpitude  of  such  conduct,  he  had  added  hypo- 
crisy to  his  disgraceful  betrayal  of  the  man  to  whom 
he  posed  as  a  devoted  and  incorruptible  friend.  It 
was  evident  that  his  sojourn  on  the  island  must  be  of 
short  duration,  and  an  occurrence  shortly  afterwards 
happened  which  materially  hastened  the  inevitable 
result. 

*  On  the  28th  of  July,  1817,  the  Corsican,  Cipriani, 
Napoleon's  maitre  dliotel,  died  after  a  short  illness, 
and  his  death  gave  rise  to  the  events  to  which  we  have 
just  referred.  He  was  buried  in  the  country  church- 
yard, and  the  Church  of  England  burial  service  was 
read  at  the  grave  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boys,  a  Protestant 
clergyman.  The  funeral  cortege  was  followed  by  Ber- 
trand,  Montholon,  Sir  Thomas  Reade,  Dr.  O'Meara, 
several  officers  of  the  66th  Regiment,  and  many  of  the 
inhabitants,  for  general  regret  was  felt  for  the  death  of 
this  man,  so  far  from  the  land  of  his  birth. 

^  Napoleon  was  much  pleased  with  the  respect  thus 
shown  to  his  follower,  although  never  once  during  the 
poor  Corsican's  ilkiess  had  he  visited  the  sick-room, 
which  was  under  his  own  roof,  and  not  more  than  twenty 
feet  distant  from  his  bath. 

However,  the  Emperor,  after  the  breath  was  out  of 
his  servant's  body,  showed  some  sense  of  the  services 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  262,  etc. 


MEDICO   AND   "MOUTON"  249 

that  had  been  rendered  by  the  clergyman  who  had 
officiated  at  the  obsequies,  and  wished  his  recognition 
to  take  a  tangible  form.  ^  He  therefore  resolved  to  pre- 
sent Mr.  Boys  and  another  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Vernon,  who  had  also  showed  respect  to  the  deceased, 
with  silver  snufi-boxes,  a  proceeding  to  which  there 
could,  of  course,  be  no  possible  objection,  provided  it 
was  carried  out  in  a  proper  manner. 

Now,  one  of  the  regulations  imposed  by  the  British 
Government  for  the  supervision  of  the  French  exiles 
was  that  which  strictly  forbade  presents  being  given  either 
to  or  by  Napoleon  and  the  members  of  his  suite  without 
the  cognizance  and  approval  of  the  Governor.  It  is 
obvious  that  this  rule  was  highly  necessary,  for  had  it 
not  been  laid  down,  and  stringently  enforced,  it  is  easy 
to  see  the  power  of  corruption  which  would  have  been 
placed  in  Napoleon's  hands.  He  was  well  provided 
with  funds,  and  in  a  small  island  such  as  St.  Helena, 
with  a  large  black  population,  and  traders  more  intent 
on  gain  than  honour,  a  judicious  distribution  of  gold 
might  have  seriously  imperilled  the  safe  custody  of  the 
prisoners. 

There  is  not  the  sUghtest  doubt  that  had  the  Gover- 
nor's permission  been  requested  for  the  proposed  gifts, 
it  would  readily  have  been  granted.  There  was  there- 
fore no  earthly  reason  why  that  simple  and  straightfor- 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  8,  etc. 


250  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

ward  course  should  not  have  been  followed.  ^  Unluckily, 
Napoleon  placed  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  O'Meara, 
to  whom  a  simple  and  straightforward  course  was 
repugnant,  where  underhand  trickery  could  be  employed. 
O'Meara,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  regulation, 
gratified  his  mania  for  intrigue,  and  his  instinct  of  defiance 
of  authority,  by  taking  the  snuff-box  to  Mr.  Boys  on 
the  eve  of  his  departure  for  England,  and  the  reverend 
gentleman  unthinkingly  accepted  it.  Mr.  Vernon, 
however,  with  a  just  appreciation  of  the  circumstances, 
decUned  to  receive  his,  except  through  the  legitimate 
channel,  and  on  hearing  that  Mr.  Boys  had  accepted 
the  gift  direct  from  O'Meara,  wrote  to  his  fellow-clergy- 
man, pointing  out  the  gross  impropriety  of  the  pro- 
ceeding, upon  which  Mr.  Boys  at  once  caused  the 
snuff-box  to  be  returned  to  the  surgeon,  with  a  note 
that  he  would  be  glad  to  receive  it  if  it  came  in  the 
regular  way. 

On  being  informed  of  this  fresh  act  of  contumacy, 
the  Governor  quite  properly  resolved  to  adopt  rigorous 
methods  with  O'Meara,  and  informed  him  that  he  would 
in  future  be  subjected  to  the  same  regulations  as  were 
enforced  in  the  case  of  Napoleon  and  his  household. 
This  was  inevitable,  for  O'Meara  had  ceased  to  act  as  a 
British  officer,  having  now  identified  himself  entirely 
with  the  exiles,  and  adopted  all  their  tricky  shifts  and 
devices  to  flout  the  EngHsh  Government  and  harass 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  8,  etc. 


MEDICO  AND   "MOUTON"  251 

the  Governor.  As  he  had  become  an  avowed  French 
partisan,  he  could  not  complain  of  being  treated  as 
such. 

It  was  on  the  10th  of  April,  1817,  that  this  curtail- 
ment of  the  surgeon's  opportunities  for  mischief  came 
into  force.  *  O'Meara  thereupon  wrote  to  Bertrand  that 
as  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  sacrifice  his  character 
and  rights  as  a  British  subject  to  the  desire  of  being  of 
service  to  the  "  chief  personage  "  at  Long  wood,  he  had 
formed  the  resolution  to  quit  the  island.  He  then  des- 
patched a  letter  to  the  Governor,  tendering  his  resigna- 
tion, and  demanding  permission  to  return  to  England ; 
following  this  up  by  violating  the  Governor's  orders  not 
to  leave  Longwood  without  permission,  by  a  visit 
to  The  Briars,  where  Admiral  Plampin  was  residing. 
The  Admiral,  however,  instructed  his  Secretary  to  inform 
O'Meara  that  he  could  not  sanction  his  disobedience 
by  receiving  him,  but  that  if  he  had  any  communication 
to  make,  he  must  write  and  obtain  his  (the  Admiral's) 
direction  to  wait  on  him.  O'Meara  answered  that  he 
considered  himself  a  naval  officer,  and  not  amenable 
to  the  orders  of  the  Governor,  much  less  obUged  to 
obey  an  "  illegal "  one. 

On  the  same  day  Bertrand  sent  for  Major  Gorrequer 

and  bitterly  complained  of  the  Governor's  act,  and  said 

that  in  driving  away  the  Emperor's  physician  the  design 

could  be  recognized,  which  Sir  Hudson  had  long  mani- 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  9. 


252  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

fested,  of  assassinating  him.  On  hearing  this,  Gorre- 
quer  rose  from  his  seat  saying  he  could  not  tolerate 
such  language,  and  Bertrand  added,  "  At  all  events, 
you  will  repeat  to  the  Governor  what  I  have  just  said," 
on  which  the  Major  at  once  withdrew.  To  a  letter 
written  to  him  by  Bertrand  making  the  same  disgraceful 
charge,  Sir  Hudson  repUed  with  calmness  and  dignity, 
that  O'Meara  had  tendered  his  resignation,  and  if  it  had 
not  already  taken  place,  that  had  been  solely  out  of 
consideration  for  the  arguments  advanced  by  Bertrand, 
and  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  supplying  O'Meara's 
place  by  any  other  person  in  the  island  not  objected  to 
by  Napoleon  himself. 

^  The  Governor  now  formally  accepted  O'Meara's 
resignation,  and  informed  him,  through  Reade,  that  if 
Napoleon  was  willing  to  receive  advice  from  any  other 
medical  man  in  the  island,  he  would  consent  to  O'Meara's 
quitting  Longwood  immediately  ;  but  if  not,  it  would 
be  proper  that  he  should  remain  until  his  resignation 
was  received  in  England,  or  some  arrangement  could  be 
made  for  filhng  his  place. 

It  was  important  that  Napoleon  should  not  be  left 
for  a  moment  without  medical  attention.  The  family 
disease  which  ultimately  carried  him  ofi  was  beginning 
to  make  itself  manifest.  He  slept  badly  ;  his  appetite 
was  failing  ;  his  colour  was  ghastly,  and  the  pain  which 
he  suffered  in  his  right  side  had  become  worse.  O'Meara, 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  11. 


MEDICO   AND   "MOUTON"  253 

who  seems  to  have  been  as  incompetent  as  a  doctor  as  he 
was  unreliable  in  other  respects,  diagnosed  the  complaint 
as  hepatitis,  but  Dr.  Baxter  expressed  surprise  that  the 
disorder,  if  it  were  what  O'Meara  supposed,  should 
remain  stationary  so  long.  It  was  afterwards  proved,  of 
course,  that  O'Meara  was  utterly  wrong  in  his  opinion 
as  to  the  natvire  of  the  disease ;  but  that  opinion  may 
have  been  expressed  in  order  to  sustain  the  assertion  that 
Napoleon  was  killed  by  the  climate  of  St.  Helena, 
which  was  part  of  his  case  against  the  British  Ministry 
and  the  Governor,  and  did  not  die  from  the  family  taint, 
which,  of  course,  would  have  destroyed  that  fiction. 

The  order  with  regard  to  O'Meara  had  come  into  force 
on  the  10th  of  April,  1818,  and  on  the  14th  he  waited  on 
Napoleon,  ^who  positively  refused  any  longer  to  avail 
himself  of  his  services  as  medical  attendant.  A  tedious 
and  futile  correspondence  had  meanwhile  been  going 
on  between  the  Governor  and  the  surgeon,  which 
ended  in  O'Meara  proposing,  in  view  of  the  state  of  the 
Emperor's  health,  that  he  should  remain  at  Longwood 
until  the  arrival  of  an  answer  from  England,  to  Lowe's 
despatch  on  his  behaviour.  Sir  Hudson,  taking  into 
consideration  that  Napoleon  not  only  refused  to  accept 
O'Meara's  services,  but  obstinately  dechned  to  see  any 
other  doctor,  decided  to  meet  the  grave  danger  that 
would  result  if  the  Emperor  were  to  become  seriously 
ill  in  the  absence  of  professional  advice,  by  withdrawing 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  12. 


254     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

the  order  placing  O'Meara  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
French  exiles.  He  accordingly  notified  the  insubordin- 
ate doctor  that  he  would  be  restored  to  his  former 
privileges  until  instructions  were  received  from  England 
regarding  him.  He  would  continue,  however,  to  be 
considered  as  an  officer  employed  and  paid  by  the 
British  Government,  and  subject  to  the  Governor's 
authority  and  control. 

Another  incident  occurred  which  further  shows  the 
mire  of  mendacity  in  which  O'Meara  dehghted  to  wallow. 
^  On  the  12th  of  June,  1818,  a  long  conversation  took 
place  between  him  and  the  Governor,  who  called  his 
attention  to  a  sealed  letter  from  Napoleon  to  Lord 
Liverpool,  which  he  (Lowe)  had  transmitted  to  England. 
A  copy  of  this  letter  was  at  the  same  time  smuggled  out 
of  the  island,  and  pubhshed  in  the  English  newspapers. 
The  Governor  asked  O'Meara  if  he  knew  anything  re- 
specting the  mode  of  transmission  or  by  whom  the  copy 
had  been  sent.  To  this  O'Meara  replied,  "  No,  sir,  I 
know  nothing  whatever  about  it."  He  was  then  asked 
whether  he  knew  of  any  channel  by  which  it  might  have 
been  sent.  The  answer  was,  "  No,  I  do  not,  I  can 
suspect  no  one."  Would  he  state  that  on  oath  ? 
O'Meara  retorted  that  this  was  an  insult,  and  that  a 
person  whose  word  was  not  worthy  of  credit  did  not 
deserve  any  more  credit  on  oath.  Did  he  know  of 
any  paper  sent  clandestinely  to  England  in  the  June 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol,  iii.  p.  21. 


MEDICO  AND   "MOUTON"  255 

of  the  previous  year  ?  No,  was  the  reply,  he  did  not ; 
this  was  the  first  he  had  heard  of  such  a  thing. 

Alas !  the  fatal  Finlaison  epistles  are  again  available 
to  convict  this  pretty  specimen  of  a  British  officer  of 
deliberate  lying.  Writing  to  his  friend  in  November, 
1817,  he  said,  "  I  enclose  you  a  correct  copy  of  Bona- 
parte's answer  to  Lord  Bathurst's  speech,  the  original 
of  which  was  delivered  to  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  on  the  7th 
of  October,  sealed,  and  directed  to  Lord  Liverpool." 
As  to  the  episode  of  June,  1817,  he  wrote  to  Finlaison 
on  the  29th  of  that  month,  secretly  enclosing  a  copy  of 
the  Emperor's  observations  on  the  restrictions  imposed 
upon  him  ! 

By  this  time  O'Meara's  insults  and  defiance  of  the 
Governor  were  a  pubhc  scandal  in  the  island.  He  had 
been  all  along  an  honorary  member  of  the  mess  of  the 
66th  Regiment,  but  Lieut.-Col.  Lascelles  thought  it 
was  high  time  that  his  presence  should  no  longer  pollute 
the  dinner-table.  ^  He  therefore  wrote  him  on  the  23rd 
of  June,  1818,  that  his  honorary  membership  must  cease. 
What  followed  is  described  by  the  Assistant-Surgeon 
of  the  66th  in  Henry's  Events  of  a  Military  Life. 
After  briefly  describing  O'Meara's  malpractices,  which 
included  ^the  repeating  at  Longwood  of  confidential 
conversations  heard  at  the  mess,  he  goes  on  to  explain 
that  the   Colonel's  intimation  to   O'Meara  had   been 

^  Events  of  a  Military  Life,  Henry,  vol.  ii.  p.  40. 
2  Ibid.  p.  41, 


250  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

sent  without  consulting  the  other  officers,  which  had 
caused  some  dissatisfaction,  as  O'Meara,  a  genial  Irish- 
man, was  well  liked.  O'Meara  ignored  the  Colonel's 
letter,  and  presenting  himself  as  usual  at  the  dinner- 
table,  appealed  to  the  seven  officers  who  happened 
to  be  present  \vhether  his  conduct  had  not  always 
been  marked  with  propriety  while  he  was  associating 
with  them,  and  blarneyed  them  into  giving  him  a  cer- 
tificate to  that  effect.  The  officers,  good,  honest  fellows, 
being  quite  in  the  dark  as  to  his  scandalous  conduct,  and 
being,  no  doubt,  in  a  postprandial  state  of  geniality, 
readily  Avrote  the  testimonial  "  across  the  walnuts  and 
the  wine,"  saying  that  the  surgeon's  deportment  had 
always  been  most  gentlemanly,  and  away  went  the 
wily  doctor  with  the  document  in  his  pocket.  ^As 
Mr.  Henry  remarks,  it  was  a  regrettable,  though  good- 
natured  action,  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  for  this  testi- 
monial was  adroitly  made  use  of  as  one  of  the  main  props 
of  the  edifice  of  falsehoods  built  up  afterwards  under 
the  title  of  A  Voice  from  St.  Helena.  ^ "  A  specious 
but  sophistical  book,  full  of  misrepresentations,"  is 
Henry's  description  of  it. 

At  this  juncture  Lieut.-Col.  Dodgin  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  66th.  He  at  once  convened  a  meet- 
ing of  the  whole  of  his  officers,  and  they  unanimously 
agreed  to  forward  a  letter  to  Sir  G.  Bingham,  their 

^  Events  of  a   Military  Life,   vol.    ii.   p.   41. 
2  Ibid.  p.  41. 


MEDICO  AND   "MOUTON"  257 

Colonel,  explaining  that  the  letter  to  O'Meara  had  been 
written  without  their  knowledge  and  consent.  They 
requested  the  Colonel  to  inform  the  Governor  of  this, 
so  that  should  O'Meara  pubhsh  the  first  letter,  Sir  Hud- 
son might  have  the  means  of  exculpating  the  body  of 
the  officers  of  the  regiment  from  any  blame  that  might 
attach  to  them  in  the  eyes  of  the  Commander-in-Chief. 
This  declaration  was  signed  by  twenty-seven  officers  ; 
while  the  seven  officers  who  had  thoughtlessly  signed 
the  first  letter  wrote  on  the  6th  of  November,  1818,  to 
Lieut.-Col.  Dodgin  that  they  had  only  written  it  out  of 
poUteness,  and  in  total  ignorance  of  any  imputation  of 
improper  conduct  being  attached  to  O'Meara's  character ; 
but  that  from  circmnstances  which  had  since  come  to 
their  knowledge,  they  regretted  having  done  so.  At  a 
subsequent  period,  when  O'Meara  had  grossly  misused 
the  letter  of  character  in  a  communication  to  the  Ad- 
miralty of  the  28th  of  October,  1818,  the  officers  again 
addressed  Sir  G.  Bingham,  reiterating  their  explanation 
of  how  the  testimonial  had  come  to  be  written,  and 
expressing  their  feelings  of  surprise  and  indignation  that 
it  should  have  had  such  a  false  and  scandalous  construc- 
tion placed  upon  it  by  the  recipient.  It  had  been 
intended  merely  as  a  mark  of  common  civility,  and 
they  begged  the  Colonel  to  assure  Sir  Hudson  that  the 
whole  assertions  and  imputations  contained  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  extracts  were  wanton  and  mahcious 
falsehoods. 


258  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

^  The  cup  of  O'Mcara's  rascalities  was  filled  to  the 
brim  by  the  revelations  made  by  General  Gourgaud  on 
his  arriving  in  London.  He  expressed  to  Mr.  Goulburn 
the  conviction  that  although  the  situation  of  Longwood 
made  it  capable  of  being  well  protected  by  sentries, 
there  would  not  be  much  difficulty  in  eluding  their 
vigilance,  and  that  in  point  of  fact,  an  escape  from  the 
island  appeared  to  him  in  no  degree  impracticable. 
The  subject  had  frequently  been  discussed,  and  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  best  mode  of  effecting  escape  invited 
from  individual  members  of  the  household.  The 
General  also  said  that  Napoleon's  ill-health  had  been 
much  exaggerated.  O'Meara  was  the  dupe  of  that 
influence  which  the  Emperor  always  exercised  over  those 
with  whom  he  had  frequent  intercourse. 

Gourgaud 's  communications  gave  the  finishing  touch 
to  the  growing  suspicions  entertained  by  the  Minister  of 
O'Meara's  fidelity ;  and  Lord  Bathurst  resolved  to 
withdraw  the  refusal  he  had  returned  to  Sir  Hudson's 
previous  request  for  the  surgeon's  removal.  On  the 
16th  of  May,  1818,  he  instructed  the  Governor  to  dismiss 
O'Meara  forthwith,  and  to  forbid  him  any  further 
communication  with  Longwood.  ^  Jn  a  private  letter  to 
Lowe,  his  lordship  pointed  out  that  this  step  would 
probably  create  a  great  sensation,  and  that  the  Governor 
must  make  public  the  substance  of  his  instructions,  so  aa 

1  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  38,  etc, 
8  Ibid,  p.  41, 


MEDICO  AND   "MOUTON"  259 

to  show  clearly  that  the  dismissal  was  due  to  Gourgaud, 
and  not  to  his  differences  with  O'Meara.  In  another 
despatch  Lord  Bathurst  instructed  Sir  Hudson  to  impose 
such  restrictions  on  communications  between  Napoleon's 
followers  and  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Helena  as  might 
appear  to  him  necessary  to  prevent  their  continuance. 
A  secret  correspondence  had  been  discovered  between 
Longwood  and  Bahia  in  Brazil,  via  the  Cape.  In  April 
a  packet  of  letters  from  the  French  at  Longwood  had 
been  dehvered  in  London  by  a  person  who  had  arrived 
there  from  Brazil,  and  Lord  Bathurst  informed  the 
Governor  that  a  rescue  had  been  in  contemplation  by  a 
party  of  French  and  other  adventurers  proceeding  from 
Pernambuco  to  St.  Helena. 

On  the  25th  of  July,  1818,  O'Meara  was  accordingly 
notified  to  leave  Longwood  at  once,  without  holding 
any  further  communication  whatever  with  the  inmates, 
and  Admiral  Plampin  received  instructions  as  to  his 
destination  when  he  should  quit  the  island.  ^  Defiant 
to  the  last,  O'Meara  disobeyed  these  orders,  and 
was  closeted  in  close  conference  with  Napoleon  for 
two  hours.  Lieut.-Col.  Wynyard,  the  chief  MiHtary 
Secretary,  reprimanded  him  sharply  for  this  fresh 
evidence  of  insubordination,  and  O'Meara  insolently 
retorted,  "  Yes,  I  don't  acknowledge  the  authority." 
Wynyard  thereupon  told  him  bluntly  that  he  had  ceased 
to  belong  to  the  Longwood  estabhshment,  and  was 
1  Ibid.  p.  48, 


2G0  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

to  pack  up  his  traps  with  all  speed  and  quit  the  premises 
for  James  Town.  The  Governor  sent  the  Marshal  of 
the  Island  to  inform  him  that  he  must  clear  out  of  St. 
Helena  at  once.  He  was  put  on  board  the  Griffon, 
which  sailed  for  England  on  the  2nd  of  August,  1818. 

O'Meara  did  not  wait  until  his  arrival  in  England 
to  begin  his  campaign  of  calumny.  ^  At  Ascension  he 
manifested  his  fiendish  hatred  of  the  Governor  by  charg- 
ing him  with  having  prompted  him  (O'Meara)  to  murder 
the  Emperor.  On  this,  Rear-Admiral  Plampin  wrote 
to  Lowe  the  following  breezy  note  :  "  Young  Black- 
wood .  .  .  who  is  a  midshipman  on  board  the  Favourite, 
and  is  at  present  for  two  or  three  days  at  The  Briars, 
tells  me  that  that  impudent  vagabond  O'Meara  said 
publicly  at  Ascension  that  had  he  obeyed  your  orders, 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  would  not  then  have  been  aUve — 
a  precious  rascal  this  to  talk  of  prosecuting  for  defama- 
tion !  " 

2  On  the  28th  of  October,  1818,  O'Meara  wrote  the 
letter  to  the  Admiralty  which  so  roused  the  indignation  of 
the  officers  of  the  66th.  It  was  an  epitome  of  the  Hbels 
afterwards  elaborated  in  A  Voice  from  St.  Helena,  and 
containedithe  frightful  accusation  first  made  at  Ascension. 
The  passage  in  the  letter  which  contains  this  abominable 
charge  runs  as  follows  :  "In  the  third  interview  which 
Sir  Hudson  Lowe  had  with  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in 
May,  1816,  he  proposed  to  the  latter  to  send  me  away 
^  Jjowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  96,  ^  Ibid.  p.  118, 


MEDICO  AND   "MOUTON"  261 

and  replace  me  by  Baxter,  who  had  been  for  several 
years  surgeon  with  him  in  the  Corsican  Rangers.  This 
proposal  was  rejected  with  indignation  by  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  on  the  grounds  of  its  being  an  indehcate 
proposition  to  substitute  an  army  surgeon  for  a  private 
surgeon  of  his  own  choice. 

"  FaiUng  in  this  attempt.  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  adopted 
the  resolution  of  manifesting  the  greatest  confidence  in 
me  by  loading  me  with  civiHties  ;  inviting  me  constantly 
to  dine  with  him  ;  conversing  hours  together  with  me 
alone,  both  in  his  own  house  and  grounds,  and  at  Long- 
wood,  either  in  my  room  or  under  the  trees  and  elsewhere. 
On  some  of  these  occasions  he  made  to  me  observations 
upon  the  benefit  that  would  result  from  the  death  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  of  which  event  he  spoke  in  a 
manner,  which,  considering  his  situation  and  mine, 
was  painfully  distressing  to  me." 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  purport  of  this  wicked 
innuendo,  which  at  last  exhausted  the  forbearance  of  the 
Admiralty,  and  O'Meara  promptly  received  a  reply  of 
which  the  material  part  was  as  follows  :  ^  "  It  is  im- 
possible to  doubt  the  meaning  which  this  passage  is 
intended  to  convey,  and  my  Lords  can  as  little  doubt 
that  the  insinuation  is  a  calumnious  falsehood  ;  but  if  it 
were  true,  and  if  so  horrible  a  suggestion  were  made  to 
you,  directly  or  indirectly,  it  was  your  bounden  duty 
^ot  to  have  lost  a  moment  in  communicating  it  to  the 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  pp.  115,  116. 


262  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Admiral,  on  the  spot,  or  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  or  to 
their  Lordships. 

"  An  overture  so  monstrous  in  itself,  and  so  deeply- 
involving,  not  merely  the  personal  character  of  the 
Governor,  but  the  honour  of  the  Nation  .  .  .  should 
not  have  been  reserved  in  your  breast  for  two  years, 
to  be  produced  at  last,  not  (so  it  would  appear)  from  a 
sense  of  public  duty,  but  in  furtherance  of  your  personal 
hostiUty  against  the  Governor. 

"  Either  the  charge  is  in  the  last  degree  false  and 
calumnious,  or  you  can  have  no  possible  excuse  for 
having  hitherto  suppressed  it. 

"  In  either  case,  and  without  adverting  to  the  general 
tenour  of  your  conduct,  as  stated  in  your  letter,  my 
Lords  consider  you  to  be  an  improper  person  to  continue 
in  His  Majesty's  service,  and  they  have  directed  your 
name  to  be  erased  from  the  hst  of  naval  surgeons 
accordingly." 

When  Montholon  afterwards  referred  to  this  abomin- 
able charge  in  a  conversation  with  Montchenu,  the 
French  Commissioner,  the  latter  expressed  his  entire 
disbehef,  on  which  Montholon  responded,  "  We  do  not 
beheve  it  ourselves,  hut  it  is  always  well  to  say  so." 

Theodore  Hook  published  a  defence  of  Sir  Hudson  to 
which  O'Meara  replied.  ^  In  order  to  poison  the  minds  of 
the  inhabitants,  O'Meara  endeavoured,  with  character- 
istic trickery,  to  smuggle  eighteen  sets  of  what  he  called 
*  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  pp.  185,  186. 


MEDICO   AND   "MOUTON'*  263 

his  Exposition  into  St.  Helena.  Each  set  was  enclosed 
in  a  sealed  packet  to  deceive  the  captain  of  the  ship  that 
conveyed  them  into  the  beHef  that  they  were  tracts, 
so  that  they  were  sent  ashore  without  the  manifest 
required  by  the  regulations,  and  duly  delivered.  The 
scheme  completely  failed,  however,  as  on  becoming  aware 
of  the  nature  of  the  publication,  each  set  was  returned  to 
the  publishers  by  the  respective  recipients,  with  the 
pages  uncut. 

Such,  then,  was  the  man  upon  whose  testimony  the 
cruel  and  abominable  charges  against  Sir  Hudson  Lowe 
mainly  rest.  His  colossal  falsehoods  pass  current  to 
this  day  as  undoubted  truths,  for  the  glamour  of  Na- 
poleon's bloodstained  career  has  blinded  the  eyes  of  the 
multitude  (who  are  prone  to  accept  as  established  proof 
what  is  persistently  asserted)  to  the  facts  of  the  case  ; 
and  the  average  man  has  neither  the  time  nor  the 
patience  to  examine  the  evidence  for  himself.  The 
fury  of  faction  ;  the  perversions  of  subsidized  or  pre- 
judiced scribes  ;  the  emotion  of  poets  ;  even  the  praise- 
worthy instinct  of  Englishmen  to  look  with  indulgence 
on  a  fallen  foe,  have  all  combined  to  perpetuate  this 
fabric  of  falsehood. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

MEDICAL  AND  CLERICAL 

rpHE  disappearance  of  Barry  O'Meara  made  it 
necessary  to  appoint  a  new  medical  adviser 
for  the  Emperor,  and  here  a  serious  difl&culty  presented 
itself.  Throughout  his  whole  career  Napoleon  had 
constantly  expressed  himself  in  the  most  contemptuous 
terms  of  the  medical  profession,  and  his  affection  for 
O'Meara  was  in  no  degree  owing  to  his  confidence  in  the 
surgeon's  professional  skill.  It  sprang,  of  course,  from 
his  utility  in  the  campaign  against  the  English  Ministry 
and  the  Governor.  Any  doctor  appointed  by  Sir 
Hudson  might  be  confidently  expected  to  meet  with  his 
determined  opposition,  and  this  was  soon  found  to  be 
the  case. 

^  The  appointment  of  Dr.  Verling,  assistant-surgeon 
in  the  Royal  Artillery,  was  first  tried,  for  as  he  had 
come  out  with  Napoleon  on  the  Northumberland,  it  was 
hoped  that  he  might  prove  persona  grata  to  the  exile. 
On  his  appointment  Dr.  Verhng  asked  O'Meara  to  show 

^  Lotve  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  48. 
264 


MEDICAL  AND  CLERICAL  265 

him  his  medical  journal,  which  was  the  only  source 
from  which  could  be  ascertained  the  constitution  of  the 
patient  and  the  nature  of  his  complaints,  without  a 
knowledge  of  which  it  was,  of  course,  impossible  to 
arrive  at  a  proper  decision  as  to  treatment,  but  with  this 
request  O'Meara  refused  to  comply.  Moreover,  the 
Emperor  obstinately  refused  to  accept  the  services, 
either  of  VerHng,  or  any  other  doctor  selected  by  the 
Governor,  and  he  appUed  for  a  French  or  Italian  medical 
man. 

^  In  August,  1818,  the  Emperor's  uncle,  Cardinal 
Fesch,  made  application  to  the  Prince  Regent  for 
permission  to  send  a  Catholic  priest  to  St.  Helena  to 
act  as  chaplain  to  his  nephew.  Lord  Bathurst  replied 
that  there  was  no  objection  to  this,  provided  that  the 
reverend  gentleman  should  reside  at  Longwood,  and 
make  the  usual  declaration  of  submission  to  all  the 
regulations.  At  the  same  time  Lord  Bathurst  informed 
Fesch  that  Napoleon  had  asked  for  a  French  surgeon 
and  a  cook,  the  selection  of  whom  his  lordship  would 
leave  to  the  Cardinal. 

There  seemed  to  be  a  mischievous  imp  at  work  in  all 
the  appointments  to  Napoleon's  household.  We  have 
seen  how  Las  Cases  had  to  be  removed,  how  Gourgaud 
was  tormented  into  leaving,  and  how  Barry  O'Meara 
had  been  expelled  for  scandalous  conduct.  It  might 
have  been  hoped  that  destiny  would  be  more  indulgent 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  94. 


266    THE  HEAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

in  respect  of  the  new-comers.  Unfortunately,  except  in 
the  case  of  the  new  cook  and  maitre  dliolel  (for  that 
functionary  had  also  to  be  newly  appointed),  the  people 
selected  by  Fesch  could  not"  possibly  have  been  more 
unsuitable.  The  new  surgeon,  the  two  chaplains,  the 
maitre  dliolel  (Causal)  and  the  cook  (Chaudehn)  arrived  at 
St.  Helena  on  the  20th  of  September,  1819.  All  signed 
the  required  declaration,  and  reached  Longwood  the  same 
evening.  ^  The  doctor  was  a  certain  Antommarchi, 
who  soon  proved  to  be  as  incompetent  as  a  physician 
and  as  hostile  to  the  authorities  as  O'Meara  himself. 
From  the  very  first  he  became  the  obsequious  slave  of 
Napoleon,  ready  to  misinterpret  everything  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  England.  Even  before  he  landed  he 
gave  an  indication  of  his  perversity.  Like  all  connected 
with  Longwood,  he  subsequently  wrote  a  book,  which  for 
all-round  lying  ecUpsed  the  achievements  of  all  the 
others.  ^  He  tells  us  that  when  he  had  his  first  view  of 
the  island,  he  exclaimed,  Yonder  was  the  Emperor, 
there  EngUsh  cruelty  persecuted  its  victim  with  relent- 
less fury  !  There  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  were  taking 
revenge  upon  that  great  man  for  "  the  errors  of  his 
generosity."  His  state  of  mind  is  further  displayed 
by  his  idiotic  suspicions  of  a  fleet  of  fishing-boats 
which  was  saiHng  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ship  on  its 

1  Ibid.  pp.  182,  202,  etc. 

*  Derniers  Moments  de  Napoleon,  Antommarchi,  vol.  i.  pp.  40, 
41  (Paris,  1898). 


MEDICAL  AND  CLERICAL  26? 

reaching  the  island.  This,  according  to  Antommarchi, 
was  part  of  a  "  plot,"  hatched  by  the  treacherous 
Governor  to  entrap  the  new-comers  into  sending  some 
letter  or  paper  clandestinely  ashore !  ^  His  capacity 
for  barefaced  lying  is  significantly  shown  by  his 
description  of  the  alleged  interview  he  had  with  the 
EngUsh  Ministers  on  his  return  to  London,  According 
to  this  veracious  narrative,  one  of  the  Ministers  remarked, 
"  What  signifies,  after  all,  the  death  of  General  Bona- 
parte ?  It  rids  us  of  an  implacable  enemy,  and  de- 
Hvers  him  from  a  painful  situation  in  which  he  would 
have  remained  for  ever."  "  The  assurances  given  to  us 
by  the  Governor,"  answered  Antommarchi,  "  were  not 
of  that  nature."  "  The  Governor  !  the  Governor  !  " 
exclaimed  the  Minister  contemptuously.  "  Your  Ex- 
cellency," responded  Antommarchi,  "  does  not  do  him 
justice ;  he  was  a  strict  follower  of  his  instructions." 
"  If  so,"  replied  the  other,  "  why  did  he  not  cause  the 
body  of  Bonaparte  to  be  thrown  into  Ume  ?  The  idol 
would  then  have  been  completely  destroyed,  and  we 
should  the  sooner  have  done  with  him." 

Was  ever  such  a  transparently  concocted  fiction, 
glaring  in  its  preposterous  absurdity,  sought  to  be 
palmed  of?  on  a  credulous  pubhc  ?  The  bare  idea  that 
an  EngUsh  Minister  would  have  conversed  in  this  way 
with  a  vainglorious  mountebank  Hke  Antommarchi  is 

*  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  203. 


268    THE  REAL  MAHTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

enough  to  stamp  the  whole  thing  with  the  impress  of 
mendacity. 

This  surgeon  soon  became  an  adept  in  the  trade  of 
grievance-mongering  and  gnimbhng.  ^  Having  broken 
the  regulations  as  to  the  hmits  imposed  on  the  move- 
ments of  the  Longwood  household,  he  bitterly  com- 
plained when  he  was  very  properly  stopped  by  the 
sentries.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  invited  to  dinner 
the  members  of  his  profession  resident  in  the  island. 
They,  one  and  all,  excused  themselves  on  the  ground  of 
prior  engagements.  He  made  this  also  a  ground  of 
complaint  against  Sir  Hudson,  ascribing  the  refusals  to 
"  the  universal  terror  impressed  on  the  minds  of  the 
inhabitants."  The  Governor  told  him  that  he  had 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  matter,  and  that  the 
doctors  knew  their  own  affairs  best ;  but  that  nothing 
could  justify  the  most  improper  and  indecent  attack 
made  on  himself.  He  regretted  Antommarchi's  readi- 
ness to  seek  the  first  forced  occasion  to  hold  an  irritating 
and  insulting  style  of  language  towards  him.  The  sur- 
geon, he  added,  could  have  had  no  opportunity  to  trace 
the  real  causes  which  influenced  the  conduct  of  indi- 
viduals on  that  island  in  their  relations  with  Longwood, 
and  without  that,  the  rejflection  was  as  unjust  as  it  was 
offensive. 

Antommarchi  not  only  adopted  this  attitude  of 
extreme  hostiUty  to  the  Governor  immediately  on 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  253. 


MEDICAL  AND  CLERICAL  269 

arriving  at  St.  Helena,  but  he  soon  showed  that  vain 
as  O'Meara  had  been,  he  entirely  eclipsed  the  Irishman 
in  that  defect.  He  also  proved  to  be  a  most  incompetent 
doctor.  Napoleon's  health  was  becoming  much  worse, 
and  Antommarchi  showed  himself  utterly  unequal  to 
the  situation.  Napoleon  from  the  first  displayed  an 
entire  want  of  confidence  in  his  skill  and  knowledge,  and 
at  last  refused  to  take  any  more  of  his  medicines,  which 
he  said  only  made  him  worse.  ^  The  Emperor  was  a 
most  exacting  patient,  and  required  his  attendant  to 
explain  all  his  methods,  which  Antommarchi  was  quite 
incapable  of  doing.  This  increased  Napoleon's  contempt 
for  him,  and  later  on  this  contempt  grew  into  strong, 
personal  aversion,  which  was  intensified  by  Antom- 
marchi's  want  of  poHsh,  due  to  his  never  having  been 
accustomed  to  move  in  good  society.  ^  His  manners 
were  frivolous  and  presuming ;  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
giving  himself  the  most  ridiculous  airs  of  self-importance, 
and  on  his  arrival  seemed  to  believe  the  whole  island 
was  at  his  command.  At  last  Napoleon  conceived  an 
absolute  hatred  for  him,  and  could  not  endure  to  have 
him  in  his  sight.  His  diagnosis  of  the  Emperor's 
malady  was  utterly  wrong,  for  he  asserted  it  to  be  an 
affection  of  the  organs  of  digestion  and  the  heart,  whereas 
we  know  very  well  what  it  really  was, 

2  Antommarchi,   on    his    part,   found    his  situation 
unendurable,  and  appHed  for  leave  to  return  to  Europe, 
1  Ibid.  p.  254.  2  Ibid.  p.  275, 


270     THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

as  he  told  the  Governor  that  he  could  be  of  no  further 
use,  and  could  stand  no  longer,  either  the  Emperor's 
violent  temper,  or  the  menial  services  required  of  him. 
^  Nor  did  the  selection  of  the  Abbes  Buonavita  and 
Vignah  as  the  Emperor's  advisers  prove  more  judicious. 
The  former  was  a  very  worthy  old  man,  but  not  the  sort 
to  meet  Napoleon's  requirements.  He  had  been  a 
missionary  priest  in  Mexico,  and  could  talk  of  nothing 
but  his  experiences  there.  He  was  no  theologian,  and 
therefore  quite  incapable  of  answering  the  Emperor's 
searching  questions  on  that  subject,  or  of  holding  his  own 
in  controversy  with  the  keenest  intellect  of  the  age. 
Napoleon  therefore  soon  became  as  dissatisfied  with  him 
as  he  was  with  Antommarchi.  ^^s  to  Vignali,  the  other 
cleric,  he  was  an  excellent  young  man,  but  of  abysmal 
ignorance,  and  the  two  together  were  about  as  unsuitable 
persons  as  could  well  be  imagined  to  battle  with  a  life- 
long sceptic  like  Napoleon.  Montholon  humorously 
summed  up  the  man  of  medicine  and  the  two  church- 
men by  saying  that  Antommarchi  could  talk  of  nothing 
but  surgery ;  Buonavita  could  talk  of  nothing  but 
Mexico,  and  Vignali  could  talk  about  nothing  at  all. 
In  these  circumstances  Napoleon  asked  the  Governor 
to  get  him  supplied  with  new  ministrants  to  his  bodily 
and  spiritual  wants,  but  the  choice  must  on  no  account 
be  left  to  his  family.  He  said  he  had  great  reason  to 
complain  of  the  choice  they  had  already  made,  and  he 
1  Ibid.  p.  254.  2  Ibid.  p.  255, 


MEDICAL  AND  CLERICAL  271 

suggested  that  the  matter  should  be  left  to  the  discretion 
of  the  King  of  France  and  his  ministers.  The  priest 
must  be  a  man  of  education  and  learning,  and  forty  to 
fifty  years  old. 

^  The  Governor  told  Antommarchi  that  he  must  have 
time  to  dehberate  on  his  request  for  permission  to  leave 
the  island,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  surgeon  re- 
mained at  Longwood  until  Napoleon's  death,  which  was 
now  rapidly  approaching,  rendering  his  further  stay 
there  superfluous. 

^  Loxve  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  277. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

HIDE   AND   SEEK 

A  FTER  the  removal  of  O'Meara's  evil  influence 
the  relations  between  Longwood  and  the  Gover- 
nor became,  as  might  have  been  expected,  much  more 
amicable.  To  show  to  what  an  extent  that  influence 
prejudiced  Napoleon  against  Sir  Hudson,  the  following 
incident  will  suffice. 

1  It  was  deemed  desirable  to  protect  the  grounds  at 
Longwood  from  the  intrusion  of  cattle  and  goats  by 
erecting  around  them  an  iron  fence.  O'Meara  told  the 
Emperor  that  a  ship  had  arrived  with  400,000  livres 
of  iron  fencing  for  the  purpose  of  hemming  him  in, 
and  enclosing  his  house  within  fifteen  yards'  distance 
all  round  ;  in  fact  to  form  an  iron  cage  round  him.  In 
consequence  of  this,  when  Napoleon  saw  the  railing 
being  put  up  along  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  new  building 
(for  another  house  was  erected  at  Longwood  by  the 
British  Government  to  give  improved   accommodation 

1  Ibid.  p.  261. 
272 


HIDE  AND  SEEK  273 

to  the  exiles)  he  became  exasperated,  exclaiming, 
"  There  is  the  cage — O'Meara  was  right.  I  am  going 
to  be  imprisoned  within  an  iron  railing  !  "  The  ab- 
surdity of  the  Emperor's  idea  is  only  exceeded  by  the 
wickedness  of  O'Meara  in  suggesting  it  to  him.  This  is 
Montholon's  account  of  what  actually  occurred.  The 
version  which  O'Meara  palmed  off  on  the  Governor 
was  very  different,  in  fact  the  exact  opposite.  He  told 
Sir  Hudson  that  Napoleon,  having  got  this  bee  in  his 
bonnet,  he  (O'Meara)  had  enlightened  the  Emperor  as 
to  the  real  object  for  which  the  railing  was  intended, 
and  explained  to  him  that  it  was  similar  to  the  protec- 
tion ordinarily  placed  around  the  gardens  of  English 
country  houses  ! 

Unhappily,  the  truce  established  between  Longwood 
and  Plantation  House  was  not  of  long  duration,  for 
there  was  another  marplot  at  work,  to  sow  afresh  the 
seeds  of  discord.  This  was  the  "  Grand  Marechal," 
Bertrand,  who  now  stepped  into  the  void  left  by  O'Meara 
and  fanned  the  flames  of  Napoleon's  hatred  of  Lowe  on 
every  possible  occasion.  Montholon,  although  of  course 
no  friend  to  Sir  Hudson,  had  sufficient  sense  to  see  the 
folly  of  the  war  which  was  continually  carried  on  ;  and 
did  his  best  (so  he  averred,  at  all  events)  to  restrain  his 
master's  impolitic  pugnacity.  He  advised  Napoleon 
to  moderate  his  attitude  towards  the  Governor,  but  his 
efforts  as  peacemaker  were  continually  neutralized 
by  Bertrand,  who  appealed  to  the  Emperor  with  such 

S 


274  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

words  as  ^  "  Mais,  Sire  !  voire  gloire,  votre  nom  !  "  and 
liis  fellow-exile's  advice  immediately  fell  to  the  ground. 

The  strife  was  therefore  soon  renewed.  One  of  the 
most  insistent  demands  of  the  British  Ministers  was  that 
Lowe  should  satisfy  himself  by  ocular  evidence  twice 
every  day  of  Napoleon's  actual  presence  at  Longwood. 
^  The  orderly  officer  was  therefore  positively  instructed 
that  he  must  satisfy  himself,  by  hook  or  by  crook,  of  this 
fact.  The  poor  man  led  a  dog's  life  in  endeavouring 
to  fulfil  this  duty,  for  the  Emperor  was  resolved  to 
prevent  its  accomplishment  by  all  the  means  in  his 
power.  It  was  a  most  undignified  game  of  hide-and- 
seek  on  both  sides,  but  what  was  the  Governor  to  do  ? 
Despatch  after  despatch  was  received  by  him  from 
Lord  Bathurst  emphasizing  the  absolute  necessity  for 
the  rule  being  enforced.  Sir  Hudson  was  determined 
to  go  to  all  extremes  in  avoiding  the  necessity  for  a 
forcible  intrusion  on  Napoleon's  privacy ;  and  yet  the 
obstinacy  with  which  the  exile  immured  himself  for 
months  in  the  interior  of  Longwood  seemed  to  make  a 
continuance  of  this  forbearance  impossible.  To  make 
matters  worse,  Montholon  actually  boasted  of  the  defeat 
of  the  Governor's  attempts,  and  defied  him  to  say  that 
he  knew  for  certain  that  Napoleon  was  actually  at 
Longwood,  or  had  been  there  for  the  last  two  months. 

To  show  in  what  a  dilemma  Sir  Hudson  was  placed  by 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  52,  ^  ibid.  p.  174. 


HIDE  AND  SEEK  275 

Napoleon's  undignified  policy  of  concealment,  let  us 
quote  Lord  Bathurst's  despatch  of  the  28th  of  September, 
1818 :  "  From  this  assertion  of  Montholon,  I  am  con- 
firmed in  what  I  had  been  led  to  apprehend  by  certain 
passages  in  your  despatch,  that  you  have,  from  feelings 
of  delicacy  towards  Bonaparte,  and  unwillingness  to 
intrude  on  his  privacy,  forborne  enforcing  the  regula- 
tion mentioned  in  your  despatch  of  the  12th  of  May, 
1816,  the  purport  of  which  was  that  it  should  be  dis- 
tinctly ascertained  twice  a  day  beyond  possible  doubt 
that  General  Bonaparte  was  actually  at  Longwood. 

"  Although  I  duly  appreciate  the  motives  which  have 
led  to  this  forbearance  on  your  part,  and  am  disposed 
to  intrude  as  little  as  possible  upon  those  habits  of 
seclusion  which  General  Bonaparte  has  latterly  imposed 
on  himself,  yet  I  confess  that  it  appears  to  me  so  essential 
that  the  security  of  his  being  actually  at  Longwood 
should  be  regularly  and  daily  ascertained,  that  if  this 
were  duly  enforced,  I  should  have  less  objection  to  dis- 
pense with  some  of  the  restrictions  of  which  General 
Bonaparte  has  complained.  You  will  therefore  propose 
to  General  Bonaparte  the  regular  admission  of  the 
orderly  ofiicer  to  a  personal  interview  between  the 
hours  of  nine  and  eleven  every  morning  and  evening. 
If  this  be  accepted,  you  are  authorized  to  relax  other 
restrictions,  so  far  as  to  admit  of  his  taking  exercise  on 
foot,  in  carriage  or  on  horseback  through  the  greater 
part  of  the  island,  unattended  by   a    British  officer 


276  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

(subject  always  to  the  regulations  as  to  hours  at  present 
in  force)." 

The  despatch  goes  on  to  say  that  if  Napoleon  refused 
to  accept  these  terms,  no  alterations  were  to  be  made 
in  the  existing  regulations,  and  the  Governor  was  to 
adopt  such  measures  as  he  might  think  most  effectual 
to  prevent  his  being  deceived  as  to  the  Emperor  being 
actually  at  Longwood,  taking  care  always,  in  adopting 
those  measures,  to  show  all  possible  consideration  for  the 
feelings  and  habits  of  the  exile,  not  inconsistent  with  the 
necessary  discharge  of  a  painful  duty. 

We  see  from  the  above  that  Sir  Hudson  had  run  the 
risk  of  incurring  the  censure  of  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
War  and  the  Colonies,  in  his  anxiety  to  deal  considerately 
and  gently  with  the  prisoner.  What  a  contrast  his 
actual  conduct  presents  to  the  common  idea  of  him, 
derived  from  the  deliberate  slanders  of  unscrupulous 
Bonapartists,  as  a  cruel,  callous,  inhuman  tyrant, 
whose  greatest  delight  was  to  torment  and  insult  his 
hapless  victim  ! 

These  attempts  at  an  arrangement  were  unfortunately 
fruitless.  Napoleon  persisted  in  his  determination 
not  to  show  himself,  and  resorted  to  the  most  childish 
and  undignified  expedients  to  conceal  himself  from  view. 
1  Among  other  devices,  he  had  holes  made  in  the  win- 
dows of  the  billiard-room,  through  which  he  could  see 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  157. 


HIDE  AND  SEEK  277 

those  outside  by  means  of  a  spy-glass,  while  himself 
remaining  concealed  from  their  observation. 

The  unfortunate  orderly  officer,  Captain  Nicholls,  was 
at  his  wits'  end  to  carry  out  his  duty.  He  had  not  seen 
the  Emperor  for  two  weeks,  and  was  yet  urged  to  make 
his  reports  twice  a  day.  The  situation  became  as 
impossible  as  it  was  farcical,  and  on  the  3rd  of  October, 
1818,  the  Governor,  accompanied  by  Major  Gorrequer, 
called  on  de  Montholon  to  endeavour  to  put  an  end  to  it. 

De  Montholon  was  an  extremely  slippery  gentleman 
to  deal  with.  While  Bertrand  was  brutal,  de  Montholon 
was  the  personification  of  politeness,  but  his  very 
suavity  made  him  all  the  more  difficult  to  handle. 
^A  long  conversation  ensued  in  which  de  Montholon 
denied  that  the  Emperor  was  concealing  himself.  On 
the  contrary,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  the 
window  and  drawing  back  the  curtains,  exposing  him- 
self to  view.  The  Governor  replied  that  on  that  very 
day  the  orderly  officer  reported  that  he  had  no  certainty 
of  the  Emperor  being  at  Longwood.  Delicacy  had  been 
pushed  to  extremes.  Captain  Nicholls  had  always 
endeavoured  to  perform  his  duty  in  a  manner  not 
disagreeable  to  Napoleon's  feelings.  De  Montholon  said 
that  if  he  mentioned  the  matter,  his  master  flew  into  a 
passion,  and  the  more  he  expostulated  with  him  the 
more  obstinate  he  became.    It  was  ill-health  and  bad 

^  Loive  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  161. 


278  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

weather  that  kept  him  indoors,  not  a  desire  to  hide 
himself.  Napoleon  was  a  man,  said  the  Count,  who  the 
more  that  cannon  were  fired  at  him,  the  more  stubborn 
he  became.  It  was  only  by  gentle  means  that  anything 
could  be  done.  "  But,"  replied  Lowe,  "  I  don't  fire 
cannon  at  him  ;  on  the  contrary,  every  one  knows  how 
far  I  have  been  pushed  on  this  subject,  by  refraining 
till  now  from  insisting  on  the  point."  De  Montholon 
rejoined  that  he  quite  admitted  this,  and  rendered  the 
Governor  full  justice  in  this  respect.  Napoleon  himself 
had  said,  "  Well,  he  does  his  duty."  The  Count 
added  that  he  would  rather  Sir  Hudson  should  write  to 
him,  and  he  would  send  his  answer  in  like  manner. 

Lowe  then  remarked  on  the  false  impression  Napoleon 
appeared  to  have  about  the  English.  ^  De  Montholon 
replied  that  it  was  due  to  Las  Cases,  who  was  no  doubt 
the  author  of  much  mischief,  for  his  previous  residence 
in  England  and  knowledge  of  the  language,  though 
imperfect,  had  given  him  an  influence  over  the  Emperor 
which  was  never  exerted  for  any  good  purpose,  and  his 
misrepresentations  of  English  customs  and  modes  of 
acting,  if  not  wilful,  were  ridiculous.  He  had  also  done 
much  harm  by  misinterpreting  expressions  in  conversa- 
tions, and  on  one  occasion,  even  Napoleon  declared 
that  he  was  satisfied  the  Count  had  not  sufficiently  under- 
stood the  language  to  avoid  misleading  hun.    This  is 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  68. 


HIDE  AND  SEEK  279 

borne  out  by  the  following  significant  entry  in  Gourgaud's 
Journal  Inedit  de  Sainte  Helene  (vol.  1.  chap.  vi.  p.  317), 
referring  to  Las  Cases  :  "  C^est  un  simple  intrigant,  un 
'peureux,  un  hypocrite,  qui  n'a  commis  que  des  sottises  en 
excitant  VEmpereur  a  se  creer  des  illusions  sur  tout.''"' 

1  As  to  O'Meara,  de  Montholon  had  from  the  first  been 
convinced  that  he  was  giving  accounts  to  the  Governor 
of  all  that  happened  at  Longwood.  As  he  lodged  close 
to  de  Montholon,  who  saw  him  always  writing  from  the 
moment  he  entered  his  room,  he  (the  Count)  was  strongly 
suspicious  of  what  the  surgeon  was  about. 

Nothing  came  from  this  interview,  nor  from  another 
which  the  two  had  on  the  5th  of  October,  at  which  de 
Montholon  was  as  plausible  as  ever ;  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  expressed  open-eyed  surprise  that  NichoUs 
had  still  been  unable  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  exile. 
2  He  had  told  Napoleon  what  Lowe  had  said,  and  re- 
ceived for  a  reply,  "  What  would  he  have  ?  Does  he 
want  me  to  go  out  when  I  am  ill  ?  I  do  not  hide  myself, 
and  have  changed  none  of  my  habits,  and  don't  mean  to. 
When  fine  weather  returns  and  my  health  improves,  I 
will  go  out  as  usual.  If  it  be  a  new  regulation,  let  them 
inform  me  in  writing."  The  Governor  replied  that 
it  was  no  innovation,  but  there  now  seemed  to  be  a 
system  established  to  prevent  the  orderly  officer  from 
seeing  Napoleon.  Whenever  Captain  Nicholls  was 
perceived,  the  blinds  were  drawn,  and  all  opportunity 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  68.         *  Ibid.  pp.  69,  70. 


280    THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

of  getting  a  glimpse  of  him  thus  prevented.  De  Mon- 
tholon  again  replied  that  there  was  no  design  on  the 
part  of  the  Emperor  to  conceal  himself.  He  (de 
Montholon)  had  spoken  to  him  the  other  day  on  the 
matter  and  the  attempt  had  ended  in  a  "scene," 
Napoleon  exclaiming,  "  Well  then,  they  want  to  assas- 
sinate me  !  "    He  had  always  that  idea  in  his  head. 

To  this  the  Governor  replied  that  those  expressions 
did  no  good ;  on  the  contrary,  Napoleon  did  himself 
harm  by  them.  His  (Lowe's)  character  was  too  well 
known  for  any  one  to  imagine  that  he  would  take  delight 
in  persecuting  the  Emperor.  It  was  not  possible  for 
him  to  show  greater  delicacy  and  care  to  avoid  anything 
that  might  be  disagreeable,  than  by  coming  to  de 
Montholon  twice  to  see  if  there  were  any  means  of 
arriving  at  an  arrangement  instead  of  writing  ofl&cially. 
What  could  he  say  beyond  this — that  the  orders  of  his 
Government  were  that  he  should  satisfy  himself  twice 
a  day  of  the  Emperor's  actual  presence,  and  that  it  was 
necessary  he  should  cause  these  orders  to  be  punctually 
executed.  He  had  come  to  try  and  avoid  more  extreme 
measures.  The  conversation  ended  by  the  Governor 
saying,  "  I  do  not  pretend,  M.  le  Comte,  to  insist  upon 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  receiving  visits.  He  is  master  of 
his  own  interior  to  receive  those  only  whom  he  pleases. 
I  do  not  interfere  in  the  least  with  this,  but  the  orderly 
ofl&cer  is  charged  with  a  duty  of  great  responsibility, 
and  he  must  have  the  means  to  perform  it." 


HIDE  AND  SEEK  281 

*  Two  days  later  Major  Gorrequer  called  at  de  Mon- 
tholon's  request,  with  the  same  negative  result ;  and 
the  day  after,  the  Governor  again  visited  him,  to  correct 
certain  misapprehensions  which,  from  the  Major's  report, 
the  Count  appeared  to  have  conceived  with  regard  to  the 
rule  as  to  seeing  Napoleon  daily  being  an  "  innovation." 
The  Governor  showed  de  Montholon  two  papers  which 
conclusively  proved  that  the  regulation  had  been  made 
by  Admiral  Cockburn  previous  to  Sir  Hudson's  arrival 
in  the  island,  and  on  this  point  the  Count  expressed 
himself  as  quite  satisfied.  It  would  be  wearisome  to 
describe  each  of  these  interviews ;  they  are  merely 
repetitions  of  the  same  expostulations  on  the  one  side 
and  evasions  on  the  other.  But  they  led  to  no  result. 
The  passive  resistance  continued,  and  the  orderly  officer's 
life  became  an  intolerable  burden  to  him  in  consequence. 

There  is  only  one  matter  that  deserves  to  be  men- 
tioned, as  it  throws  another  gleam  of  light  on  O'Meara's 
double-dyed  treachery.  ^  De  Montholon  stated  that  one 
of  the  main  causes  of  Napoleon's  hatred  of  the  Governor 
was  O'Meara's  having  told  him  that  Sir  Hudson  had 
ordered  him  to  repeat  everything  he  heard,  and  to  give 
an  account  of  all  that  happened  at  Longwood ;  in 
fact,  he  was  to  be  a  spy  ;  and  that  because  he  had 
refused,  the  Governor  had  forbidden  him  to  speak  to 
them  on  any  subject  but  medicine,  and  only  to  "  feel 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  71.  *  Ibid.  p.  76. 


282  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

their  pulses."  Sir  Hudson  replied  that  this  was  abso- 
lutely false,  and  the  Count  said  he  gave  the  fullest 
credit  to  the  assurance,  ^  The  Governor  then  asked  de 
Montholon  what  he  would  think  of  O'Meara  when  he 
heard  of  his  pledge  of  secrecy  to  the  Emperor,  and  his 
subsequent  violation  of  the  promise  during  a  period  of 
nearly  two  years.  "  Well  then,"  replied  the  Count, 
"  I  would  say  that  he  was  a  rascal ;  that  you  have 
acted  like  a  man  of  honour,  and  he  like  a  man  void 
of  principle.  But  I  was  never  the  dupe  of  O'Meara. 
I  saw  clearly  through  all  his  manoeuvres.  I  knew  he 
often  wrote  to  you  reports  of  conversations  he  had  had 
with  us." 

On  the  following  day,  at  another  interview  with  the 
Governor,  de  Montholon  said  of  O'Meara  :  ^  "  He  is  just 
the  man  to  be  always  placing  himself  in  a  false  position  ; 
he  cannot  help  it ;  he  must  be  always  stirring  ;  always 
agitating ;  always  doing  something.  He  wanted  to 
pickup  some  anecdotes,  some  information,  some  details  ; 
probably  to  make  a  book  of  them ;  to  make  some  profit 
by  them  ;  to  make  money." 

The  same  state  of  things  still  continued,  and  in 
February,  1819,  Lord  Bathurst  again  insisted  on  the 
orderly  officer  seeing  the  Emperor  twice  a  day.  But 
it  was  one  thing  to  give  these  urgent  directions  from 
London  and  quite  another  to  carry  them  out  in  St. 
Helena. 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  77.  ^  Ibid.  p.  79. 


inDE  AND  SEEK  283 

There  is  a  touch  of  grim  humour  in  Captain  Nicholls' 
diary,  recording  his  efforts  to  perform  his  duty.  On 
the  3rd  of  April,  1819,  he  writes  :  "  Nearly  twelve  hours 
on  my  legs  this  day,  trying  to  see  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
before  I  succeeded."  Again  on  the  21st  of  July,  "At 
least  ten  hours  on  my  feet,  walking  about  Longwood 
garden,  but  had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  General 
Bonaparte.  Weather  so  very  bad,  fear  my  health  will  be 
injured  if  this  goes  on."  On  the  25th,  "  Not  able  to  get 
a  sight ;  since  8  a.m.  spent  six  or  seven  hours  walking 
about  Longwood  garden." 

From  this  purgatory  the  unhappy  officer  was  released 
in  October,  1819,  by  the  sudden  emergence  of  the  exile 
from  his  hiding-place  into  the  Ught  of  day.  The  Emperor 
began  to  walk  about  frequently,  with  the  result  that 
his  health  decidedly  improved,  his  spirits  became  much 
better,  and  his  relations  with  the  Governor  far  more 
agreeable. 

It  may  be  easily  imagined  with  what  delight  this 
salutary  change  was  hailed  by  poor  Captain  Nicholls. 
The  entry  in  his  diary  on  the  event  is  almost  pathetic 
in  its  whole-hearted  sincerity.  ^  On  the  29th  of  Novem- 
ber, he  writes :  "  General  Bonaparte  out  early  this 
morning,  employed  in  his  favourite  garden  with  Count 
Montholon,  the  valets,  Chinese  gardeners,  storemen,  etc. 
The  General  in  his  morning  gown,  amidst  his  people,  at 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  196. 


284  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

work  directing  them — takes  a  spade  at  times,  and  begins 
to  put  in  seeds.  Messages  to  me  for  carts,  shovels,  and 
spades.  God  send  he  may  always  continue  in  this 
humour  during  my  residence  at  Longwood." 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  let  us  describe  an  occur- 
rence which  again  displays  the  Governor's  good-nature 
and  chivalrous  courtesy.  Madame  de  Montholon  having 
left  the  island,  *  Madame  Bertrand  naturally  felt  very 
lonely,  particularly  during  the  period  of  Napoleon's 
seclusion.  She  complained  of  this  to  Sir  Hudson,  who 
reminded  her  that  he  had  consented,  at  her  husband's 
suggestion,  to  a  proposal  that  Bertrand  should  present  a 
list  of  fifty  persons  for  his  (Lowe's)  approval,  who  would 
be  allowed  to  visit  Longwood  without  a  pass,  upon  the 
invitation  of  Napoleon.  The  Governor  said  the  Ust 
not  having  been  prepared,  he  had  proposed  to  de  Mon- 
tholon to  frame  one,  but  the  ofier  had  never  been 
accepted.  He  added  that  there  had  always  been, 
among  those  frequenting  his  house,  never  less  than 
twelve  at  liberty  to  visit  Longwood  wthout  any  pass  from 
him.  This  number  would  now  be  augmented,  and  he 
would  inform  the  persons  comprehended  in  it  that  there 
would  be  no  objection  to  their  visits  on  his  part. 

Madame  Bertrand  immediately  forwarded  a  list  of 
names,  which  she  begged  the  Governor  to  send  to  the 
orderly  officer,  with  instructions  to  allow  those  persons 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  pp.  183,  184. 


HIDE  AND  SEEK  285 

to  visit  without  a  pass,  and  Sir  Hudson  courteously 
assented. 

The  Countess,  by  the  way,  won  the  goodwill  and 
regard  of  all  who  knew  her.  She  was  very  agreeable, 
and  had  been  a  handsome  woman,  and  her  presence 
must  greatly  have  alleviated  Napoleon's  exile.  Very 
different  was  her  husband.  His  influence  was  always 
exerted  to  inflame  Napoleon's  irritation,  and  his  be- 
haviour to  the  Governor  was  consistently  brutal 
and  insulting.  Lord  Bathurst,  in  September,  1819, 
wrote  that  the  conduct  of  Bertrand  made  it  unfit  for 
Sir  Hudson  to  communicate  with  him  any  longer,  and 
that  if  de  Montholon  went,  he  was  to  address  himself 
to  Buonavita,  or  either  of  the  other  two  gentlemen  who 
were  going  out  with  the  chaplain. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  better  relations  which 
had  latterly  manifested  themselves  between  the  Gover- 
nor and  Napoleon  were  in  no  sense  due  to  any  altera- 
tion in  the  methods  of  the  former  regarding  his  charge. 
All  the  regulations  which  had  been  established  with 
the  sole  object  of  preventing  the  exile's  escape  were 
still  maintained,  for  they  were  absolutely  necessary. 
So  long  as  the  one  paramount  purpose  could  be  achieved, 
every  effort  w^as  made  by  Lowe  to  alleviate  the  in- 
evitable hardship  of  the  Emperor's  confinement.  This, 
as  we  have  shown,  had  been  his  line  of  conduct  all 
along,  and  this  it  now  continued  to  be.  It  was  Napo- 
leon himself  who,  by  abandoning  his  puerile  and  vexa- 


286  THE  REAL  MARTYE  OF  ST.  HELENA 

tious  opposition  to  an  obviously  reasonable  and  neces- 
sary regulation,  enabled  more  satisfactory  relations 
to  be  established  between  Longwood  and  Plantation 
House. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

THE  SUBLIME  AND  THE  RIDICULOUS 

lyTAPOLEON'S  conduct  at  St.  Helena  displayed,  in 
a  petty  and  contemptible  manner,  all  the  artifice 
and  trickery  which  had  characterized  his  career  on  the 
stupendous  stage  of  European  politics.  We  have 
shown  by  his  letter  to  Junot  the  calculated  treachery 
of  which  he  was  capable,  on  a  colossal  scale  ;  and  his 
whole  poUcy  had  been  based  upon  an  utter  disregard 
of  the  elementary  principles  of  honesty  and  fair  dealing. 
His  bulletins  proved  what  an  adept  he  was  in  unblush- 
ing mendacity,  and  his  published  letters  contain  damning 
evidence  that  no  object  was  too  mean  to  be  the  victim 
of  his  unparalleled  tyranny. 

Before  a  great  public  character  can  be  assigned  his 
proper  position  in  the  records  of  history,  his  career  must 
be  judged  as  a  whole.  It  is  not  enough  to  consider 
hun  in  the  full  blaze  of  glory  ;  the  historian  will  attach 
an  equal  importance  to  his  bearing  under  misfortune, 
for  that  is  the  real  touchstone  of  greatness,  and  Uke 
other  so-called  great  men,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  lament- 
ably fails  when  judged  by  this  standard, 

287 


288  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

In  estimating  greatness  it  is  necessary,  also,  to  con- 
sider the  objects  aimed  at,  the  means  used  to  attain 
them,  and  the  final  result.  For  twenty  years  Napoleon 
had  been  engaged  in  a  bloody  contest  with  the  rest  of 
Europe.  He  had  pierced  the  centre  of  his  foes — 
Austria  and  Prussia,  the  two  great  central  Powers  of 
the  Continent,  had  been  crushed,  although  England, 
the  citadel  of  Freedom,  still  defied  all  his  efforts.  But 
on  the  right  and  left  wings  of  this  "  far-flung  battle 
line  "  he  had  been  hopelessly  worsted.  Russia  on  the 
extreme  right  and  the  Iberian  Peninsula  on  the  extreme 
left,  restored  the  fortunes  of  the  field,  and  having  thus 
given  rallying  time  to  the  centre,  left  him  beaten  to 
the  earth  in  1814. 

The  object  of  Napoleon's  ambition  was  immense — 
nothing  less  than  the  establishment  of  a  vast  European 
Empire,  with  France  as  the  dominant  force,  and  Paris 
as  the  capital.  A  really  great  man  would  never  have 
undertaken  such  a  hopeless  enterprise,  because  its 
conception  involved  the  disregard  of  moral  forces 
which  must  inevitably  have  triumphed  over  mere  armed 
coercion.  The  undying  spirit  of  nationality,  which 
strangely  enough  he  had  made  use  of  in  his  Italian 
campaigns,  was  bound  to  assert  itself.  Differences  of 
race,  of  language,  of  religion,  presented  an  insurmount- 
able barrier  to  the  fuLfihnent  of  this  visionary  scheme  ; 
which,  by  the  way,  was  still  further  magnified  by  his 
dream  of  an  Asiatic  Empire  as  well,  the  reahzation 


THE  SUBLIME  AND  THE  RIDICULOUS   289 

of  which  he  attempted  in  his  Egyptian  campaign, 
only  to  be  foiled  by  the  maritime  prowess  of  England. 
He  therefore  attempted  to  attain  the  manifestly  unat- 
tainable, and  in  this  aspect  of  his  career  entirely  failed 
in  the  first  condition  of  greatness. 

As  to  the  means  adopted  to  accomplish  this  chimeri- 
cal design,  they  were  utterly  inadequate  to  the  task. 
Depending  on  France  as  the  mainstay  of  his  pohcy, 
he  bled  her  nearly  to  death,  and  exhausted  her  resources, 
so  that  he  had  to  fight  the  campaign  which  was  decided 
at  Leipzig  with  an  army  of  boys ;  the  manhood  of 
France  having  been  left  to  perish,  during  the  previous 
year,  amidst  the  snows  of  Russia.  He  forced  to  co- 
operate with  him,  as  unwiUing  allies,  the  Powers  of 
Central  Europe  which  he  had  conquered,  apparently 
forgetting  that  he  was  thus  training  in  the  art  of  war 
armies  which  would  turn  upon  him  at  the  first  indica- 
tion of  failure.  But  perhaps  the  maddest  part  of  his 
pohcy  was  that  which  was  directed  to  crushing  England 
by  decrees  against  her  commerce,  a  poUcy  which  was 
powerless  against  Britain  so  long  as  she  held  command 
of  the  seas,  and,  in  so  far  as  it  was  effective,  brought 
ruin  on  the  trading  classes  of  the  Continent,  thus  raising 
up  against  him  a  hatred  of  self-interest,  perhaps  as 
dangerous  as  the  spirit   of  nationahty  itself. 

The  results  of  this  insane  ambition  may  be  summed  up 
in  two  words — St.  Helena.  After  twenty  years  of 
bloodshed  and  treachery  this  was  the  lame  and  impotent 

T 


290  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

conclusion.  Of  what  avail  was  it  to  triumph  at  Auster- 
litz,  only  to  be  beaten  at  Moscow,  or  to  win  Jena  and 
lose  Waterloo  ?  Did  not  Leipzig  obliterate  Wagram, 
and  was  not  the  gorgeous  life  of  the  Tuilieries  only  the 
precursor  of  the  paltry  existence  of  Longwood. 
Even  had  he  succeeded  in  building  up  his  world- 
empire,  what  possible  hope  could  there  have  been  of  its 
permanence  ?  Is  it  for  one  moment  to  be  doubted 
that  the  mighty  fabric  would  have  resolved  itself  into 
its  primeval  atoms  under  the  feeble  sway  of  his  son  ; 
a  sickly  youth  who  died  of  consumption  at  the  age  of 
one-and-twenty  ?  Such  is  the  ineradicable  vice  of 
absolute  government.  In  itself,  under  a  despot  of 
genius  and  enlightenment,  it  is  probably  the  most  efficient 
form  of  government  known  to  mankind,  though 
whether,  in  the  long  run,  it  is  even  then  good  for  the 
governed  is  quite  another  matter.  Its  fatal  weakness 
lies  in  the  absence  of  any  guarantee  for  the  transmission 
of  power  to  equally  capable  hands,  and  this  has  been 
the  ruin  of  all  the  great  empires  in  history. 

On  the  day  on  which  Napoleon  Bonaparte  allied 
himself  in  marriage  with  the  most  ancient  imperial 
dynasty  in  Europe,  i  he  appears  to  have  contracted 
that  most  dangerous  and  hopeless  of  mental  diseases, 
known  scientifically  as  megalomania,  and  in  vulgar 
parlance  as  "  swelled  head."    It  appears  to  have  trans- 

^  Relation  Circonstanciee  de  la  Campagne  de  Rnssie  en  1812, 
E.  Labaurae,  4th  Ed.  p.  6,  etc, 


THE  SUBLIME  AND   THE  RIDICULOUS    291 

formed  him  from  an  Alexander  into  a  Darius.  Nothing 
else  can  account  for  his  extraordinary  folly  in  rushing 
to  his  destruction  in  the  Moscow  campaign  ;  in  viola- 
tion of  all  the  rules  of  war,  and  against  the  remonstrances 
both  of  his  civil  and  mihtary  advisers.  Puffed  up  with 
more  than  Herodian  vanity,  he  plunged  into  the  savage 
deserts  of  Lithuania,  ^  without  any  properly  organized 
commissariat ;  and,  utterly  disregarding  the  safety 
of  his  retreat,  penetrated  as  far  as  Moscow,  leaving 
Tschikagow  with  the  Army  of  Moldavia  to  capture 
his  miUtary  depots,  and  cut  him  off  from  all  commmii- 
cation  with  the  West.  ^  By  his  extraordinary  vacilla- 
tion and  lethargy,  he  allowed  the  Russian  Army  to 
escape  at  Borodino,  as  he  afterwards  allowed  the  Prus- 
sians to  escape  at  Ligny.  His  whole  conduct  through- 
out the  former  battle  showed  that  his  military  genius 
had  been  smothered  under  the  imperial  robes.  ^At  the 
moment  when  the  Russian  line  had  been  broken,  and 
there  only  wanted  a  final  effort  to  achieve  a  crushing 
victory,  he  refused,  in  spite  of  urgent  entreaties,  to  let 
loose  the  Young  Guard.  Ney  was  goaded,  by  this 
unlooked-for  refusal  to  strike  the  decisive  blow,  into 
an  outburst  of  fury :     "  Have  we,"  he    burst    forth. 


1  Ibid.  p.  32,  etc. 

2  Histoire  de  la  Grande  Armee  pendant    Vannee  1812,  vol.  i. 
p.  386,  General  Comte  de  Segur. 

3  The  Sisters  of  Napoleon,  p.  160,  Joseph  Turcjuan.     (T^an8I^^♦ 
tion  by  W.  R.  H.  TroA^ bridge.) 


292  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

"  been  brought  all  this  distance  to  content  ourselves 
with  occupying  a  battlefield  ?  What  is  the  Emperor 
doing  in  the  rear  of  the  army  ?  There  he  can  only 
bring  upon  us  defeat  instead  of  victory.  As  he  won't 
make  war  himself,  as  he  is  no  longer  the  general,  as  he 
wants  to  play  the  emperor  on  all  occasions,  let  him 
return  to  the  Tuileries,  and  leave  us  to  be  generals 
for  him."  Driving  Austria  herself  into  the  arms  of 
the  coalition  in  the  campaign  of  1813  by  his  overweening 
arrogance,  he  thus  deprived  himself  even  of  the  advan- 
tage he  had  gained  by  his  imperial  alHance,  and  completed 
the  ruia  begun  by  his  mad  aggression  against  Alexander. 

The  gaudy,  meretricious  glitter  of  his  parvenu  Court ; 
his  childish  delight  in  attiring  himself  in  theatrically- 
devised  robes — the  ci-devant  Jacobin  ! — with  absurd 
hats,  decorated  mth  ostrich  feathers ;  the  ridiculous 
hunting-parties  at  Fontainebleau,  where  the  cavaliers 
and  dames  were  rigged  out  in  mountebank  apparel 
suggestive  of  a  travelling  circus — all  these  extravagances 
and  follies  show  a  mental  decrepitude  which  fully 
accounts  for  the  painful  descent  from  the  zenith  of 
Austerlitz  to  the  nadir  of  Waterloo. 

We  have  seen  the  absurd  and  undignified  dodges 
to  which  Napoleon  resorted  in  order  to  prevent  the 
orderly  oflS.cer  from  carrying  out  his  duties,  and  the 
exemplary  consideration  and  forbearance  which  the 
Governor  displayed  in  the  face  of  such  continued  pro- 
vocation.   It  is  a  lamentable  and  deplorable  spectacle 


THE  SUBLIME  AND  THE  RIDICULOUS    293 

to  witness  the  man  who  had  made  and  unmade  kings 
descending  to  the  schoolboy  expedient  of  looking  with 
a  spy-glass  through  holes  bored  in  the  windows  of  his 
billiard-room. 

Like  a  schoolboy,  however,  he  tired  at  last  of  this 
paltry  game,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that,  like 
"  Candide,"  he  would  be  better  employed  in  "  cultivat- 
ing his  garden."  As  stated  by  Captain  NichoUs,  he 
threw  himself  with  zest  into  his  novel  pursuit,  and 
Lord  Bathurst,  when  informed  of  this  new  departure, 
gave  another  proof  of  the  desire  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment to  alleviate  his  lot  in  every  way  in  its  power.  His 
lordship,  on  the  2nd  of  June,  1820,  wrote  to  the 
Governor  offering  to  send  plants  from  the  Cape  or  any 
other  British  settlement,  or  from  England,  which 
Napoleon  might  desire  to  have  for  his  ^  garden,  and 
stated  that  no  efEort  would  be  wanting  to  procure  and 
forward  them  to  St.  Helena.  He  added  that  if  Napoleon 
wished  to  have  seeds  or  plants,  either  from  the  Cape 
or  the  Mauritius,  Sir  Hudson  was  authorized  at  once 
to  address  the  Governor  of  those  places,  who  would. 
Lord  Bathurst  was  sure,  lose  no  time  in  giving  effect 
to  the  communication. 

This  plunge  into  horticulture,  however,  was  the 
occasion  for  a  curious  display  of  the  mental  decrepitude 
into  which  the  Emperor  had  fallen.  ^  Qq  tj^e  20th 
of  January,  1820,  three  goats  belonging  to  the  Countess 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  238.  ^  Ibid.  p.  206. 


294  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Bertrand  strayed  into  the  Longwood  garden,  and  the 
great  conqueror  promptly  shot  one  of  them.  The 
Countess,  fearing  a  like  fate  for  the  other  two,  presented 
them  to  Mrs.  Kingsmill,  the  wife  of  one  of  the  English 
officers. 

This  first  example  of  his  prowess  as  a  marksman 
seems  to  have  whetted  Napoleon's  appetite,  for  a  few 
days  after  he  distinguished  himself  by  shooting  three 
hens,  following  up  this  achievement  next  day  by  shoot- 
ing a  kid  belonging  to  his  groom,  which  he  caught 
trespassing.  This  "  sport  "  seemed  to  afford  him  much 
amusement,  for  he  sent  one  of  his  servants  to  buy  some 
young  goats  for  him,  in  order  that  he  might  serve  them 
in  the  same  way. 

^  On  the  6th  of  February  he  got  into  trouble  with  his 
valet,  Noverraz,  by  shooting  two  hens  belonging  to 
that  person,  who  was  so  offended  by  this  poaching  on 
his  preserves,  that  he  wanted  to  leave  Napoleon's 
service,  and  was  only  with  difficulty  dissuaded  by  the 
Governor  from  that  extreme  course. 

2  On  the  12th  of  February  he  renewed  his  operations 
on  the  tame  members  of  the  lower  creation  by  shooting 
a  rabbit,  which  he  caused  to  be  let  out  for  the  purpose, 
following  this  up  on  the  14th  by  the  slaughter  of  another 
goat,  after  having  once  missed  it ;  while,  on  the  20th, 
yet  another  goat  that  had  escaped  from  a  small  pen 
into  the  garden  fell  a  victim  to  his  deadly  fowling-piece. 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  210.  -  Ibid.  p.  210. 


I'HiE  SUBLIME  AND  THE  RIDICULOUS    ^95 

^  A  quarry  of  nobler  kind  next  presented  itself  in 
the  shape  of  a  bullock,  which,  with  a  companion,  was 
found,  unfortunately  for  itself,  trespassing  on  the 
sacred  ground  from  an  adjacent  farm.  He  immediately 
sent  for  his  trusty  weapon,  loaded  with  ball,  and 
promptly  proceeded  to  despatch!  the  intruder  with  a 
bullet  through  its  neck.  De  Montholon  informed 
the  orderly  officer  that  Napoleon  had  avowed  his 
intention  of  treating  similarly  any  other  beast  or  bird 
that  he  might  detect  in  the  like  intrusion. 

This  new  diversion  of  the  Emperor  caused  consider- 
able uneasiness  to  those  responsible  for  his  custody,  and 
it  formed  the  subject  of  some  anxious  conferences. 
The  Governor  discussed  the  situation  with  Montchenu, 
the  French  Commissioner.  Sir  Hudson  expressed 
the  opinion  that  firing  with  ball  appeared  to  him  a 
thing  ^tres  inconvenable  for  a  person  in  Bonaparte's 
situation,  to  which  Montchenu  rather  unfeelingly 
replied  that  it  most  certainly  was ;  and  added  that  if 
the  Emperor  should  happen  to  kill  a  man  instead  of  a 
goat,  the  Governor  would  find  himself  unable  to  do 
anything  with  him,  except  perhaps,  to  confine  him 
more  closely.  The  dilemma  which  would  have  then 
presented  itself  opens  up  an  interesting  subject  for 
speculation,  but  would  seem  to  be  in  the  nature  of  an 
insoluble  problem.  Napoleon's  position  was  so  abso- 
lutely exceptional,  that  it  is  difficult  to  imagme  what 
1  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  217.  ^  ibid.  p.  211. 


296  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

could  have  been  done  in  such  circumstances.  Under 
what  law  could  he  have  been  indicted,  who  had  been 
declared  by  the  civilized  Powers  of  Europe  to  be  outside 
all  law  ?  It  would  seem  that  beyond  compensating 
the  family  of  the  victim,  and  politely  requesting  the 
incautious  sportsman  to  be  careful  in  future  to  take 
better  aim,  nothing  could  have  been  done.  Fortunately, 
the  dilemma  did  not  arise,  and  the  destruction  was  con- 
fined to   the  unfortunate  brute  creation. 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  this  spectacle  of  grotesque 
degradation  to  another  example  of  the  good  side  of  the 
Emperor's  nature.  We  have  seen  already  on  two 
occasions  how  flashes  of  nobility  of  character  lit  up  the 
gloom  of  his  blood-stained  career — once  when  he  re- 
proved Mrs.Balcombe  for  her  unfeeling  conduct  towards 
a  gang  of  poor  black  slaves,  and  told  her  to  "  respect 
the  burden  "  ;  and  again  when  the  orderly  officer  kindly 
offered  to  infringe  his  orders  by  abstaining  from  accom- 
panying Napoleon  on  his  rides,  a  proposal  which  the 
Emperor  refused  to  sanction  lest  it  might  get  the  officer 
into  trouble  with  his  superiors. 

^  And  now,  on  a  third  occasion  he  showed  the  same 
consideration.  A  non-commissioned  officer,  in  charge 
of  one  of  the  pickets  placed  around  Longwood,  had 
by  mistake  stopped  some  of  the  servants  of  the  house- 
hold while  they  were  within  bounds,  and  had  demanded 
their  names.  As  soon  as  Napoleon  heard  of  the  occur- 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  230. 


THE  SUBLIME  AND  THE  RIDICULOUS    297 

rence  he  was  much  concerned  lest  the  mistake  should 
get  the  sergeant  into  trouble.  He  at  once  sent  de 
Montholon  to  Captain  Lutyens,  who  had  succeeded 
Nicholls  as  orderly  officer,  to  request  the  Governor 
on  his  behalf  that  the  offender  should  not  be  punished  ; 
and  calling  Archambaud  to  him,  severely  rated  him 
for  having  said  anything  about  the  matter. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

DEATH 

T17TE  have  now  arrived  at  the  "  last  scene  of  all,  that 
ends  this  strange,   eventful  history." 

^  Towards  the  close  of  1820,  Napoleon's  powers  were 
manifestly  failing,  and  in  the  month  of  November  his 
health  grew  rapidly  worse.  He  was  subject  to  frequent 
vomitiag  and  acute  pains  in  the  stomach.  His  pallor 
became  ghastly ;  he  suffered  from  a  deadly  chill,  and 
was  much  oppressed  with  drowsiness.  He  was  usually 
confined  to  his  bed,  with  Antommarchi  in  constant 
though  useless  attendance.  When  he  did  get  up,  his 
feebleness  was  extreme,  and  he  walked  with  great 
difficulty.  Early  in  December,  he  fainted  after  return- 
ing from  a  drive.  He  could  not  retain  his  food,  and 
daily  became  weaker,  though  in  spite  of  all,  he  obstin- 
ately refused  to  see  Dr.  Arnott.  In  Antommarchi  he 
had,  as  we  have  already  said,  no  confidence  whatever. 

Early   in     1821    his   attendants   became   extremely 
anxious,  although  no   immediate  danger   was   antici- 
pated.    He   was  still   able    occasionally  to  go  for  a 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  247. 
29S 


DEATH  29d 

drive,  but  required  assistance  in  getting  into  and  alight- 
ing from  the  carriage.  Dr.  Shortt,  physician  to  the 
Forces,  arrived  at  St.  Helena,  and  his  services  were 
at  once  offered  by  the  Governor  in  addition  to  those  of 
Dr.  Arnott,  but  the  offer  remained  unanswered. 

In  February  the  Emperor  was  attacked  with  con- 
stant siclmess,  and  the  difi&culty  of  retaining  food  greatly 
increased.  It  was  found  that  meat  jelly,  made  from 
veal,  was  most  easily  assimilated  ;  and  the  "  inhuman  " 
Governor  immediately  had  a  supply  sent  for  Napoleon's 
use  from  Plantation  House.  The  "  brutal "  gaoler 
furthermore  despatched  his  cook  to  Long  wood,  as  the 
chef  was  exceptionally  skilled  in  soups,  of  which  the 
unfortunate  Emperor  partook  with  great  relish.  So 
palatable  was  this  delicacy,  indeed,  that  de  Montholon 
told  Capt.  Lutyens,  "  It  was  so  good  that  the  damned 
doctor  would  not  let  the  patient  eat  much  of  it." 

The  new  house  was  now  ready,  but  alas  !  the  Emperor 
was  destmed  never  to  occupy  it.  In  his  present  con-" 
dition  he  preferred  to  remain  in  his  old  quarters  ;  he  felt, 
no  doubt,  that  his  career  was  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close. 

^  De  Montholon  tells  us  that  he  was  a  very  difficult 
patient  to  manage  ;  worse  than  a  child  of  two  years ; 
he  could  do  nothing  with  him. 

During  his  last  drive  his  mind  had  begun  to  wander, 
and  his  speech  was  incoherent.  He  still,  however, 
obstinately  refused  to  see  another  doctor.     Soon  he 

^  Lowe,  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  266. 


300  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

ceased  to  take  an  interest  in  newspapers,  or  anything 
in  the  outer  world.  ^  The  Governor  saw  de  Montholon 
at  Longwood,  and  on  taking  leave  renewed  his  offer 
to  send  anything  from  Plantation  House  that  Napoleon 
might  be  inclined  to  take.  A  strange  action  for  a  man 
who  has  been  held  up  to  execration  as  a  monster  of 
cruelty  !  De  Montholon,  at  all  events,  was  touched 
by  Lowe's  solicitude  for  the  poor  dying  man,  and  grate- 
fully expressed  his  thanks,  saying,  "  I  am  perfectly 
sensible  of  your  obliging  offer,  and  fully  persuaded  of 
the  attention  you  are  disposed  to  manifest  on  this 
occasion," 

Dr.  Arnott  tried  to  see  Napoleon  on  the  25th  of 
March,  1821,  but  could  only  get  into  communication  with 
de  Montholon,  who  said  that  Antommarchi  called  the 
disease  "  gastric  intermittent  fever,"  The  Emperor 
now  refused  to  take  medicine,  saying  with  infinite 
pathos,  that  he  would  leave  his  illness  to  nature. 

At  length  Napoleon  consented  to  receive  Arnott, 
provided  it  was  quite  understood  that  the  doctor  would 
treat  him  just  like  any  other  patient.  The  assurance 
was,  of  course,  given ;  it  was  the  Governor's  known 
wish.  No  bulletins  would  be  issued,  or  if  they  should 
prove  to  be  absolutely  necessary,  notice  would  be  given 
to  the  Emperor's  friends  in  the  first  instance. 

Dr,  Arnott  visited  Napoleon's  bedside  for  the  first 
time  on  the  night  of  the  1st  of  April,  1821 .  He  examined 
^  Ij)we  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  268, 


DEATH  301 

the  patient's  pulse  and  the  state  of  his  skin,  and  found 
considerable  de'oility,  but  nothing  to  indicate  immediate 
danger.  In  a  letter  to  the  Governor,  Sir  Thomas 
Reade  stated  that  Arnott  appeared  to  think  that 
Napoleon  was  not  affected  with  any  serious  complaint ; 
it  was  probably  more  mental  than  anything  else. 

On  the  16th  of  April,  Arnott  reported  to  the  Governor 
that  Napoleon  was  not  so  w^ell ;  there  appeared  much 
prostration  of  strength,  and  his  mind  seemed  greatly 
agitated.  He  himself  pathetically  told  the  doctor 
that  he  had  abandoned  all  hopes  of  recovery,  and  that 
he  well  knew  that  anything  Arnott  could  do  would  only 
be  palliative. 

On  the  28th  the  Governor  wrote  Admiral  Lambert 
that  Dr.  Arnott  had  informed  him  that  the  Emperor 
had  become  much  worse  than  he  had  ever  seen  him 
before,  and  that  his  condition  was  very  serious.  Sir 
Hudson  enclosed  a  note  he  had  sent  de  Montholon,  in 
which  he  offered  the  instant  attendance  of  any  medical 
man  who  might  be  on  the  island,  as  he  had  before 
offered  the  services  of  Dr.  Shortt,  physician  to  the 
Forces.  Next  day  Captain  Crokat,  the  new  orderly 
officer,  reported  that  according  to  de  Montholon,  Napo- 
leon had  passed  a  bad  night,  constantly  talking  and 
quite  delirious. 

At  midnight  on  the  30th  Napoleon  was  suddenly 
seized  with  chilliness,  and  became  as  cold  as  ice.  His 
pulse  was  not  perceptible,  and  he  appeared  as  if  he  were 


302  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

suffocating.     Antommarchi  was  sent  for    and  thought 
him  dying  ;    he  rallied,  however,  from  this  attack. 

1  De  Montholon  told  Arnott  that  he  had  mentioned 
to  the  patient  the  Governor's  earnest  desire  that  he 
should  have  additional  medical  advice,  and  that  Napo- 
leon had  replied,  "  No.  I  know  I  am  dying,  but  I 
have  perfect  confidence  in  the  people  already  about  me, 
and  do  not  wish  others  called  in."  As  Antommarchi 
and  Arnott  could  not  agree  as  to  the  proper  treatment 
to  be  adopted.  Sir  Hudson  made  a  last  effort  to  induce 
the  dying  man  to  have  additional  advice.  On  the  3rd 
of  May  he  called  on  de  Montholon,  accompanied  by 
Arnott  and  Gorrequer,  and  said  that  where  there  was 
a  difference  of  opinion  such  a  course  must  surely  be 
satisfactory  to  Antommarchi  as  it  would  relieve  him  of 
an  immense  responsibility,  especially  where  life  or 
death  was  in  question.  It  was  therefore  arranged  that 
as  soon  as  the  Emperor  became  unconscious  the  doctors 
should  be  admitted  to  the  bedside. 

By  this  time  Napoleon  was  sinking  rapidly.  He 
wandered  greatly,  asked  who  was  attending  him,  and 
on  de  Montholon  replying,  Antommarchi,  repeated  the 
name  as  if  surprised,  and  said  he  did  not  know  such  a 
person,  asking  who  he  was.  "  Is  it  not,"  said  he, 
"  O'Meara  who  continues  always  to  attend  me  ?  " 

2  Between  three  and  four  p.m.  Antommarchi  came  to 
Gorrequer,  who  remained  continuously  at   Longwood, 

1  lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  281,  ^  Hjjd.  p.  285, 


DEATH  303 

and  expressed  his  desire  to  have  a  consultation  with  the 
English  doctors  in  his  own  room,  saying  Napoleon  was 
dying  and  would  probably  not  live  through  the  day. 
Gorrequer  immediately  had  Drs.  Shortt  and  Mitchell 
summoned  to  Longwood  by  signal,  and  they  soon 
arrived.  The  consultation  was  then  held,  although 
they  did  not  see  the  Emperor.  They  prescribed  some 
medicine,  however,  which  afforded  the  Emperor  tem- 
porary relief. 

1  Napoleon  died  on  the  5th  of  May,  1821,  at  about 
ten  minutes  to  six  in  the  evening.  By  a  curious  coinci- 
dence, while  he  was  in  the  last  agony,  a  violent  tempest 
swept  over  the  island,  shaking  houses  to  their  very 
foundations,  and  uprooting  many  large  trees,  a  fitting 
accompaniment  to  the  death  of  him  who  had  himself 
for  twenty  years  been  a  devastating  whirlwind,  shaking 
down  thrones,  destroying  kingdoms,  and  scattering 
death  broadcast  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Europe.  His  last  words,  "  Tete  de  V Armee,^''  were  in 
keeping  with  his  career. 

Thus  died,  on  a  remote  island  in  the  Atlantic,  the 
man  whose  name  had  for  so  long  been  the  terror  of  the 
civilized  world.  Had  he  kept  a  due  proportion  between 
his  objects  and  the  means  of  accomplishing  them,  he 
might  have  founded  a  new  and  permanent  dynasty 
in  France,  for  there  can  be  no  question  that  as 
administrator  and  organizer  he  has  no  equal  in  history. 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  287, 


304  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

If  genius  be,  as  has  been  said,  "  an  infinite  capacity 
for  taking  pains,"  then  was  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
indeed  a  genius  of  the  highest  order.  His  intel- 
lect, which  could  grasp  at  a  glance  the  most  complex 
affairs  of  state,  could  also  descend  to  the  minutest 
details  of  administration.  That  he  raised  France 
from  the  ruin  entailed  on  her  by  Jacobinical  madness 
to  the  zenith  of  prosperity,  cannot  be  denied,  although 
it  proved  to  be  but  "  a  brief  dream  of  unremaining 
glory."  Her  finances,  which  had  been  plunged  into 
chaos,  he  re-established  on  a  firm  and  sound  basis,  and 
if  he  ruled  the  French  people  with  an  iron  hand  far 
heavier  than  that  of  the  old  regime,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  his  system  was  approved  and  confirmed 
by  the  Nation,  He  tamed  the  Revolutionary  dragon 
and  harnessed  it  to  his  triumphal  car.  Under  his  rule 
order  was  evolved  out  of  anarchy,  and  modern  ideas 
reconciled  with  ancient  monarchical  -iforms.  He  had 
also  that  most  invaluable  jDossession  of  a  ruler,  the 
eagle  glance  that  could  by  inspiration  select  the  fittest 
instruments  to  carry  out  his  vast  designs.  In  Talley- 
rand he  had  the  greatest  Minister  for  Foreign  Afiairs 
that  ever  lived.  In  Fouche  the  most  consummate, 
crafty  and  unscrupulous  intriguer  that  ever  manipu- 
lated a  police  force.  It  is  true  they  both  betrayed  him 
at  last,  but  that  was  the  nature  of  the  men,  and  so  long 
as  he  was  useful  to  them  they  remained  faithful  to 
him.     Of  his  generals  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak.    It 


DEATH  305 

is  sufficient  merely  to  mention  the  names  of  Ney  and 
Davout ;  Murat  and  Lannes ;  Gouvion  St.  Cyr  and 
Macdonald  ;  Marmont  and  Massena,  Soult  and  Junot. 

And  yet,  after  placing  all  these  achievements  to  his 
credit,  he  left  France  bereft  of  the  flower  of  her  man- 
hood, and  with  all  the  conquests  of  the  Republic,  the 
Consulate  and  the  Empire  vanished  into  thin  air.  At 
the  close  of  his  career  France  found  herself  restricted 
within  the  frontiers  which  she  had  possessed  at  the  acces- 
sion of  Louis  XVI  to  the  throne.  All  the  titanic  con- 
vulsions which  Europe  had  undergone  for  twenty  years — 
the  rivers  of  blood  that  had  been  shed,  the  devastation 
she  had  suffered,  the  millions  that  had  been  squandered 
in  sanguinary  wars — ^had  resulted  in  this  most  lame  and 
impotent  conclusion. 

(  But  more  than  all  this,  his  insane  ambition  put  back  the 
clock  of  orderly  progress  for  more  than  a  generation.  Ex- 
hausted by  her  long-drawn-out  agony,  Europe  remained 
"  like  a  corpse  on  the  dissecting  table,"  under  the  grim 
and  ruthless  repression  of  the  Holy  Alliance.  And  as 
"  the  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them,"  the  "  Napo- 
leonic legend  "  was  the  cause  of  the  downfall  of  France 
in  1870,  so  that  one  may  fairly  say  that  Napoleonism 
in  the  end  not  only  reduced  France  to  her  ancient 
boundaries,  but  deprived  her  of  the  only  substantial 
fruits  of  the  ruinous  wars  of  Louis  XIV  in  the  loss  of 
two  of  her  fairest  provinces. 

The  first  Empire  ended  in  the  rout  of  Waterloo,  the 

u 


30G  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

second  in  the  colossal  catastrophe  of  Sedan.  France 
has  indeed  paid  heavily  for  the  "  greatness  "  of  the 
Bonaparte  family. 

So  much  as  to  France.  For  the  rest  of  Europe, 
which  is  what  most  concerns  Englishmen,  he  was  an 
unmitigated  blight  and  pestilence.  He  was  the  most 
inveterate  and  most  dangerous  enemy  this  country 
ever  had  to  encounter.  For  nearly  a  generation  he  kept 
Europe  in  one  continual  convulsion,  until  at  last  his 
very  name  was  used  to  frighten  children  in  the  nursery. 
When  England,  by  her  heroic  determination,  had 
stricken  down  this  appalling  menace  to  the  tranquiUity 
of  mankind,  a  deep  sigh  of  rehef  ran  through  the  civi- 
lized world.  For  the  first  time  for  nigh  twenty  years 
men  could  go  about  their  daily  avocations,  and  sleep 
through  the  night,  without  being  oppressed  as  with  a 
deadly  nightmare  ;  and  after  such  an  experience  it  was 
the  highest  statesmanship  to  take  due  precautions  that 
the  world  should  not  be  plunged  back  into  barbarism. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

THE  BREAKING-UP 

lOm  HUDSON  LOWE  returned  to  Plantation  House 
after  Napoleon's  death,  and  while  walking  before 
the  door  with  various  members  of  his  staff,  remarked, 
"  Well,  gentlemen,  he  was  England's  greatest  enemy 
and  mme  too,  but  I  forgive  him  everything.  On  the 
death  of  a  great  man  Uke  him,  we  should  only  feel  deep 
concern  and  regret."  Thus  did  the  "  brutal"  Governor 
bury  the  memory  of  insult  and  contumely  in  the  grave 
of  his  tormentor. 

In  accordance  with  Napoleon's  express  desire,  the 
body  was  dissected,  with  the  object,  which  had  been 
much  in  the  mind  of  the  deceased,  of  saving  his  son 
from  the  family  malady,  for  the  Emperor  himself  never 
had  any  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  his  disease. 

2  The  body  was  opened  by  Antommarchi  in  the 
presence  of  de  Montholon,  Bertrand,  Sir  Thomas  Reade, 
Major  Harrison,  and  Captain  Crokat ;  Doctors  Shortt, 
Arnott,   Burton,  Mitchell,   Livingstone,  Rutledge  and 

1  Loive  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  288.  -  Ibid.  p.  288. 

307 


308  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

Henry  ;  the  Abbe  Vignali  and  three  of  the  Longwood 
servants. 

The  autopsy  clearly  proved  that  death  was  due  to 
cancer  of  the  stomach,  that  organ  being  found  to  be  in 
a  shocking  state.  The  liver  was  exceptionally  large, 
but  perfectly  healthy,  thus  proving  O'Meara's  diagnosis 
to  have  been  utterly  wrong. 

A  report  on  the  cause  of  death,  attributing  it  to  cancer 
of  the  stomach,  was  signed  by  all  the  doctors  present, 
except  Antommarchi,  who  expressed  his  concurrence 
with  the  opinion  of  the  other  medical  men,  but  excused 
himself  on  the  ground  that  the  report  was  drawn  up  in 
a  language  which  he  did  not  understand.  ^  The  docu- 
ment was  then  translated  to  him,  and  he  thereupon 
asked  Bertrand  what  he  should  do.  Bertrand,  hostile 
to  the  last,  forbade  him  to  sign  because,  in  the  report. 
Napoleon  was  not  styled  "  Emperor,"  and  he  would 
never  consent  that  any  attendant  on  his  master  should 
sign  a  document  in  which  he  was  not  recognized  by  the 
imperial  title.  (Letter  from  Dr.  Burton  to  Mr.  Goulbum, 
13th  of  August,  1821.)  It  is  important  to  bear  these 
facts  in  mind,  for  Antommarchi  afterwards,  in  his  farrago 
of  lies,  asserted  that  the  liver  was  affected  by  chronic 
hepatitis.  The  members  of  Napoleon's  suite,  however, 
were  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  cause  of  death  was  as 
stated  by  the  medical  men,  and  Bertrand  in  his  letters 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  293, 


THE  BREAKING-UP  309 

to  his  brother  and  Cardinal  Fesch  explicitly  stated  this 
without  qualification. 

Thus  was  the  theory  that  Napoleon  was  suffering  from 
chronic  disease  of  the  liver,  induced  by  the  insalubrious 
climate  of  St.  Helena,  entirely  disproved.  It  must  be 
clear  to  every  reasonable  person  that  wherever  the 
Emperor  had  been  interned,  or  indeed  even  if  he  had 
remained  on  the  throne,  he  must  sooner  or  later  have 
succumbed  to  an  hereditary  complaint,  against  which 
the  greatest  medical  skill  was  unable  to  contend. 

^  Arrangements  were  next  made  for  the  funeral, 
which  was  conducted  with  all  the  impressive  pomp  of  a 
military  burial.  By  a  strange  decree  of  destiny,  the 
body  was  borne  to  the  grave  by  British  Grenadiers — 
those  splendid  soldiers  against  whom  the  "  surging 
charges  "  of  his  squadrons  "  foamed  themselves  away." 
All  the  officials  of  the  island,  mihtary,  naval  and 
civihan,  joined  the  cortege,  which  was  swelled  by  a 
numerous  body  of  the  inhabitants.  Troops,  with  arms 
reversed,  hned  the  route,  and  military  bands  played 
a  funeral  march  ;  while  three  volleys  of  musketry  and 
a  salvo  of  artillery  boomed  a  requiem  over  the  last 
resting-place  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

2  The  grave  was  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  garden,  in 
a  deep  ravine,  and  the  ground  had  been  previously 
consecrated.    Two  weeping  willows  spread  their  droop- 

»  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  296.  ^  ibij.  p.  297. 


310  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

ing  branches  over  the  tomb,  and  a  small  fountain 
murmured  near,  the  crystal  water  of  [which  had  fur- 
nished the  Emperor  with  cool  refreshment  twice  a  day. 

*  The  Governor  had  the  sacred  spot  surrounded  with 
iron  railings,  to  preserve  the  trees  from  the  too-obtrusive 
attentions  of  the  Emperor's  admirers,  for  hardly  had  the 
grave  been  closed  when  branches  began  to  be  broken  ofi 
for  souvenirs.  It  will  show  the  depth  of  base  malignity 
to  which  Antommarchi  descended  when  we  say  that 
this  thoughtful  act  of  the  Governor  was  by  him  attributed 
to  the  most  unworthy  motives. 

3  On  the  12th  of  May  Sir  Hudson,  accompanied  by 
Sir  Thomas  Reade  and  Major  Gorrequer,  proceeded  to 
Longwood  for  the  purpose  of  reading  the  Emperor's 
Will,  and  taking  an  inventory  of  his  effects.  He  there 
met  de  Montholon  and  Bertrand,  and  in  their  presence 
examined  the  papers  and  other  property.  On  a  table 
were  found  two  gold  snuffboxes,  in  one  of  which  was  a 
card,  directing  its  presentation  to  Lady  Holland  ;  and 
in  the  second  a  similar  card  assigning  it  to  Dr.  Arnott 
in  gratitude  for  his  services.  Dr.  Arnott  also  received 
from  his  illustrious  patient  a  bequest  of  six  hundred 
napoleons,  and  later  on  the  British  Government 
awarded  him  an  honorarium  of  £500. 


^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  297. 

2  Derniers  Moments  de  Napoleon,  Antommarchi,  vol.  ii.  p.  131 
(Paris,  189S). 

^  Lowe  Papeid,  vol.  iii.  p.  299. 


THE  BREAKING-UP  311 

It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  Napoleon  in  his  Will 
should  have  bequeathed  the  sum  of  ten  thousand 
francs  to  Cantillon,  the  miscreant  who  had  attempted 
to  murder  Wellington.  The  fact  recalls  us  from  the 
contemplation  of  a  sad  and  solemn  scene  to  the  baser 
side  of  Napoleon's  nature.  The  spirit  which  inspired  this 
bequest  will  best  be  reaHzed  by  the  terms  in  which  it 
was  made : 

"  5.  Ten  thousand  francs  to  the  non-commissioned 
officer  Cantillon,  who  has  been  tried  for  having 
attempted  to  assassinate  Lord  Wellington,  and  ac- 
quitted. Cantillon  had  as  much  right  to  assassmate 
that  oligarch,  as  the  latter  had  to  send  me  to  perish  on 
the  rock  of  St.  Helena,  Wellington,  who  instigated 
that  crime,  sought  to  justify  himself  on  the  plea  of  the 
interests  of  Great  Britain.  Cantillon,  had  he  actually 
assassinated  that  Lord,  would  have  been  covered  and 
justified  by  a  similar  motive,  the  interests  of  France,  in 
getting  rid  of  a  general  who  had,  in  addition,  violated 
the  capitulation  of  Paris,  and  by  doing  so,  made  himself 
responsible  for  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  Ney,  Labe- 
doyere,  etc.  etc.,  and  for  the  crime  of  despoihng  the 
museums  against  the  faith  of  treaties." 

Thus  did  the  "  great "  Napoleon  in  a  document,  the 
very  nature  of  which  brings  the  writer  face  to  face  with 
his  last  moments,  give  the  impress  of  his  approval  to  the 
assassination  of  his  most  illustrious  antagonist. 


312  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

Let  us  turn  from  this  to  a  more  pleasing  theme.  *  It 
is  said,  on  the  authority  of  Madame  Bertrand,  that 
Napoleon  on  his  death-bed  earnestly  begged  her  husband 
to  use  every  means  in  his  power,  consistently  with 
honour,  to  effect  a  reconciliation  with  Sir  Hudson, 
saying  that  he  hoped  the  effort  would  be  successful,  as  he 
himself  ^had  been  the  cause  of  the  differences  between 
them.  Madame  Bertrand  further  told  Admiral  Lam- 
bert, to  whom  she  had  communicated  the  Emperor's 
wishes  in  the  matter,  that  her  husband  was  very  desirous 
to  carry  out  this  dying  request.  When  the  Governor 
was  apprized  of  this,  he  instantly  resolved  to  bury  in 
obUvion  Bertrand's  past  conduct,  and  gladly  accepted 
the  proffered  reconciliation.  Bertrand  and  de  Montho- 
lon  accordingly  called  at  Plantation  House  together  on 
the  12th  of  May,  and  were  received  by  Sir  Hudson  in  a 
friendly  and  courteous  manner.  Thus  to  the  very  last 
did  the  Governor  continue  to  display  the  fine  and 
chivalrous  character  he  had  shown  all  along,  and  prove 
himself  to  be  a  true  Bnghsh  gentleman. 

The  death  of  the  Emperor  led  to  a  general  exodus. 
The  French  exiles  left  the  island  shortly  after  the  event, 
and  Sir  Hudson  and  his  family  departed  on  the  25th  of 
July,  1821. 

The  absurdity  of  Antommarchi's  assertion  that  the 
Governor  had  instituted  a  reign  of  terror  among  the 

1  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  299. 


THE  BREAKING-UP  313 

inhabitants  was  significantly  shown  by  the  following 
address  which  they  presented  to  him  before  he  left : 

"iSiR,— 
"  As  your  Excellency  is  upon  the  eve  of  resigning 
your  authority  on  this  island,  we  the  undersigned  inhabi- 
tants cannot  be  suspected  of  views  of  an  interested 
nature  in  respectfully  offering  our  most  sincere  and 
grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  consideration,  jus- 
tice, impartiality  and  moderation  which  have  distin- 
guished your  government. 

"  A  prominent  measure  of  your  Excellency  was  a 
proposal ,  which  might  have  been  expected  to  have  been 
unpopular  in  a  Colony  where  slavery  had  long  been 
recognized.  Yet,  Sir,  it  met  with  the  instantaneous 
and  unanimous  approbation  of  the  inhabitants ;  a 
result  which  affords  no  slight  proof  of  our  entire  confi- 
dence in  your  concern  for  our  welfare. 

"  Under  the  existence  of  such  ties  between  Governor 
and  governed,  and  your  marked  discountenancing  of  any 
rising  indication  of  party  spirit,  it  is  easy  to  account  for 
the  tranquillity  and  comfort  we  have  enjoyed  during 
your  Excellency's  residence  amongst  us. 

"  Finding  we  cannot  have  the  happiness  of  the  con- 
tinuation of  your  Excellency's  government,  we  beg  you 
will  accept  the  assurance  of  our  sincere,  respectful 
and  affectionate  wishes  for  the  health  and  prosperity 

^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  313. 


3U  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  8T.  HELENA 

of  your    Excellency    and  of    every  member    of  your 
family." 

As  this  document  pointedly  observes,  it  bears  sin- 
cerity on  the  face  of  it.  The  signatories  could  not  possibly 
have  been  actuated  by  that  species  of  gratitude  which 
is  said  to  be  "  a  Hvely  sense  of  favours  to  come."  The 
Governor  was  about  to  leave  them  ;  they  could  expect 
nothing  from  him,  and  it  is  therefore  a  most  valuable 
testimony  to  his  sterling  qualities,  and  to  the  regard  in 
which  he  was  held  by  all  outside  the  infected  area  of 
Longwood.  It  must  have  been  some  small  consolation 
for  the  six  years  of  martyrdom  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  had 
endured  from  the  feminine  spite  of  his  French  tormentors. 

^  Another  balm  to  his  outraged  feelings  he  received 
before  his  departure,  in  the  shape  of  the  following 
despatch  from  Lord  Bathurst : 

"  I  am  happy  to  assure  you  that  your  conduct  has 
received  His  Majesty's  approbation.  It  is  most  satis- 
factory to  His  Majesty  to  observe  that  no  measures 
were  omitted  by  you  for  the  purpose  of  placing  at 
General  Bonaparte's  disposal  the  best  medical  advice, 
and  of  affording  every  reUef  and  alleviation  of  his 
sufferings  during  the  latter  period  of  his  Hfe,  of  which  his 
state  admitted.  After  the  discussions  which  have  taken 
place  between  yourself  and  General  Bonaparte's  atten- 
^  Lowe  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  314. 


THE  BREAKING-UP  315 

dants,  it  is  no  inconsiderable  gratification  to  observe 
that  if  your  offers  of  service  were  latterly  declined,  the 
refusal  to  accept  them  seems  to  have  arisen,  not  from 
any  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  General  Bonaparte 
to  do  justice  to  your  motives,  but  from  the  satisfaction 
which  he  expressed  himself  to  feel  in  the  talents  and 
conduct  of  the  medical  officers  who  had  been  already 
selected  to  attend  on  him. 

"  His  Majesty  has  further  commanded  me  to  avail 
myself  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  that  general  appro- 
bation of  your  conduct  during  the  time  you  have  adminis- 
tered the  government  of  St.  Helena,  which  I  have  on 
particular  occasions  had  so  often  the  pleasure  of  convey- 
ing. Placed  as  you  have  been  in  a  situation,  which 
must  under  any  circumstances  have  been  one  of  heavy 
responsibiUty,  but  which  particular  events  contributed 
to  render  yet  more  difficult  and  invidious,  you  discharged 
your  ardous  trust  with  strict  fideUty,  discretion  and 
humanity,  and  have  effectually  reconciled  the  two  main 
duties  of  your  command,  combining  the  secure  detention 
of  General  Bonaparte's  person,  which  was  of  necessity 
the  paramount  object  of  your  attention,  with  every 
practicable  consideration  and  indulgence  which  your 
own  disposition  prompted,  and  your  instructions 
authorized  you  to  show  to  his  peculiar  situation." 

^On  the  14th  of  November,  1821,  Sir  Hudson  was 
^  Lowe  Pa'pers,  vol.  iii.  p.  315. 


316  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

presented  to  the  King,  who,  when  the  ex-Governor 
was  about  to  kiss  his  hand,  anticipated  the  action  by 
warmly  taking  the  hand  of  his  faithful  servant,  and 
shaking  it  heartily,  saying  as  he  did  so,  "  I  congratulate 
you  sincerely  upon  your  return  after  a  trial  the  most 
arduous  and  exemplary  that  perhaps  any  man  ever 
had.  I  have  felt  for  your  situation,  and  may  appeal 
to  Lord  Bathurst  how  frequently  I  have  talked  to  him 
about  you." 

To  be  thanked  by  those  over  whom  he  had  ruled,  and 
to  be  approved  by  his  Sovereign  and  the  Minister, 
doubtless  carried  some  consolation  to  Sir  Hudson  for 
the  insults  and  indignities  he  had  suffered  at  the  hands 
of  his  country's  enemies.  But  he  was  about  to  undergo 
a  far  worse  martyrdom  from  the  injustice  of  some  of 
his  own  countrymen,  whose  bUnd  and  unreasoning 
hatred  pursued  him  throughout  the  whole  of  his  subse- 
quent life,  and  has  been  transmitted  as  an  evil  legacy 
even  to  the  present  day. 


It  must  now  be  left  to  the  reader  to  decide  whether 
or  not  the  case  we  set  out  to  prove  has  been  established. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  it  has  not  been  the  object 
of  this  book  to  give  a  complete  history  of  Napoleon's 
exile  at  St.  Helena.  To  do  that  would  require  not  one 
volume  but  many ;  and  very  many  have  already  been 
written  on  the  subject.    Had  every  instance  been  given 


THE  BREAKING-UP  317 

of  the  insults  heaped  upon  the  Governor;  had  every 
paltry  trick  of  the  exiles  to  thwart  him  been  described, 
we  should  only  have  been  repeating,  literally  ad  nauseam, 
what  it  has  been  absolutely  necessary  for  our  purpose 
to  relate — ex  uno  disce  omnes.  Furthermore,  the  story 
of  O'Meara's  double-dyed  treachery  might  have  been 
greatly  expanded  ;  but  here  again  we  have  considered 
the  reader  by  presenting  only  what  was  positively 
essential  of  the  revolting  subject. 

The  points  that  are  claimed  to  have  been  proved  by 
the  evidence  are  these  : — 

1.  That  Napoleon  was  not  induced  to  surrender  to 
Captain  Maitland  by  false  pretences  ;  but  that,  on  the 
contrary,  he  was  given  clearly  to  understand  by  that 
officer  that  his  only  instructions  were  to  take  him  on 
board  the  Bellerophon,  and  convey  him  to  England, 
if  he  so  desired  ;  and  that  Napoleon  adopted  that 
course  as  the  only  one  open  to  him,  after  carefully 
considering  all  possible  alternatives. 

2.  That  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the  peace 
of  the  world  that  Napoleon  should  be  placed  in  a  situa- 
tion that  would  make  all  hope  of  escape  impossible. 

3.  That  in  selecting  St.  Helena  for  that  purpose,  the 
British  Government  were  actuated  by  humane  motives, 
the  island  possessing  the  double  advantage  of  security 
and  a  certain  freedom  for  the  exile.  Its  climate  also 
was  healthy  and  suitable  for  Europeans. 

4.  That  the  sum  of  £12,000  per  annmn  allocated 


318  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

for  the  maintenance  of  the  exiles  was  a  generous  allow- 
ance, and  would  have  been  ample  for  its  purpose,  but 
for  the  deliberate  and  calculated  waste  that  reigned  at 
Longwood. 

5.  That  the  regulations  laid  down  for  the  super- 
vision of  Napoleon  were  reasonable  and  just,  in  view 
of  the  imperative  necessity  for  taking  every  precaution 
against  his  escape. 

6.  That  the  conduct  of  the  Governor  in  enforcing 
these  regulations  was  characterized  from  first  to  last 
by  a  humane  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the  exiles, 
and  a  desire  to  mitigate,  as  far  as  possible,  the  hardships 
of  their  expatriation  ;  and  that  Sir  Hudson  sometimes 
even  carried  his  indulgence  to  extremes,  as  for  instance, 
when,  in  spite  of  Lord  Bathurst's  urgent  despatches,  he 
forbore  to  enforce  the  regulation  which  required  him  to 
satisfy  himself  twice  daily  of  the  Emperor's  actual 
presence  at  Longwood. 

7.  That  from  the  first  moment  of  assuming  his  duties, 
Sir  Hudson  strained  every  effort  to  conciliate  Napo- 
leon, and  that  his  advances  were  met  by  brutal  insults  ; 
so  vile  that  even  the  imperial  Thersites  himself  was 
ashamed  of  them. 

8.  That  the  systematic  brutality  of  Napoleon 
proceeded  from  a  design  (happily  unsuccessful)  to  goad 
the  Governor  into  reprisals,  which  could  be  used  in 
support  of  a  cunningly-devised  and  carefully-thought- 
out  conspiracy  to  delude  the  world  into  the  belief  that 


THE  BREAKING-UP  319 

the  exile  was  being    grievously  ill-treated,  and  even 
deprived  of  the  bare  necessaries  of  life. 

9.  That  far  from  acting  as  an  inhuman  persecutor, 
as  has  been  most  cruelly  and  falsely  asserted,  Sir  Hud- 
son showed  himself  all  through  to  be  a  kindly,  considerate 
and  humane  EngKsh  gentleman,  and  an  honour  to  the 
British  Army  in  which  he  had  served  with  so  much 
distinction, 

10.  That  Sir  Hudson's  conduct  towards  Las  Cases, 
Bertrand  and  de  Montholon  proves  him  to  have  pos- 
sessed that  finest  of  Christian  virtues — forgiveness  of 
injuries. 

11.  That  in  spite  of  torrents  of  low,  vulgar  abuse 
that  would  have  disgraced  a  dustman,  the  Governor 
never  lost  his  temper,  and  maintained  a  dignity  of 
demeanour  which  entitles  him  to  the  respect  and  admira- 
tion of  every  right-minded  person, 

12.  That  the  accusations  of  O'Meara  were  a  tissue 
of  the  most  atrocious  slanders,  bred  of  personal  hatred, 
and  proceeding  from  a  man  steeped  to  the  Hps  in  treach- 
ery, who  was  acting  the  part  of  a  double  traitor,  false 
at  the  same  time  to  the  Government  in  whose  service 
he  Was,  and  to  the  patient  whose  confidence  he  abused, 

13.  That  Las  Cases,  who  was  next  in  degree  of  Lowe's 
traducers,  showed  himself  as  unworthy  as  O'Meara  of 
behef,  so  far  as  the  Governor's  conduct  is  concerned,  by 
his  consistent  trickiness  and  bad  faith,  and  by  the 
deliberate  falsehoods  and  exaggerations  of  his  Journal. 


320  THE  REAL  MARTYR  OF  ST.  HELENA 

14.    That,  to  sum  up  the  whole  matter  in  a  sen- 
tence, 

Sir  Hudson  Lowe  and  not  Napoleon  was 

The  real  Martyr  of  St.  Helena. 


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